Not for the Faint Hearted
by chariots99
Summary: Alex Rider, teenage spy, is about to meet his match. Travelling back to Australia to become involved with the AIS, an officially non-existent agency, he meets a fifteen year old orphan, one of AIS's best agents...
1. Recalls and Codes

_Disclaimer…I do not own the Alex Rider series, not any characters you may recognise from the Alex Rider books. Also the code idea in this story came from another Alex Rider Fanfic titled __The Best Friends__ by Crowlows19. Check it out, it's really funny (if you can't find it it's in my favourites section)._

**Chapter One**

_(At the end of Crocodile Tears…)_

'_Fifteen years old', Jack thought, gazing at Alex, who was currently seated in the hospital bed at St. Dominic's. 'Surely MI6 would leave him alone now. They had stolen almost a whole year of his life. But never again,' Jack made herself that promise._

_Beside her, Alex settled back into the pillows. His eyes closed and even as she watched he smiled and fell asleep._

It had been almost a year since she had made herself that promise, and for now it seemed that she had kept it. Alex had not been contacted by the 'bank' for close to ten months now. He had gotten over his nightmares, although occasionally he still woke up drenched in sweat. Life had gotten better for the both of them. Alex had caught up sufficiently in school. He was starting to get excited about his sixteenth birthday, even though it was two months away. He had made a couple more friends, though it seemed that only Tom Harris knew about Alex's double life.

They had lived peacefully for ten months. Until one fateful morning...

Alex had just woken up. He was on holiday, and had fallen into the habit of sleeping in late. Though to be fair, it was Saturday, so he normally would've slept in.

He was lying in bed, the sun already pouring through his closed curtains. He had arranged to go to Tom's house for the day, where he would hopefully rescue his friend from his ever-arguing parents.

The phone started ringing.

Jack, already downstairs in the kitchen, had picked up the phone. Alex, thinking it was Tom, rolled out of bed and stumbled down the stairs. When he reached Jack, he knew something was wrong.

Jack stood with the phone pressed to her ear, her body rigid and stiff. One look at her normally cheerful face told him that he did not want to know who was on the other end of the phone. Jack looked up, and Alex read the anger and frustration in her eyes. Wordlessly she handed him the phone, then left for the backyard to cool down.

"Hello?" Alex asked, dreading who he thought was on the other side.

"_Ah, Alex. Haven't heard from you in a while,"_ the woman on the other side said.

Alex closed his eyes in dismay.

"What do you want, Mrs Jones?" He asked. Of course it had probably been too much to ask that MI6 would leave him alone forever. He knew that Jack had tried to get them away from him, but then again what power did an American, whose visa was being used as leverage against the best teenage spy in the country, have over MI6?

"_We just need you to pop down to the bank this afternoon. Some of your paper work hasn't been cleared, and we really need to open your account soon."_

Of course, Alex knew fully well that that was code. In plain terms, he was required to go to headquarters, which was located at a fake bank. _Paper work…_that had to mean he was getting an escort. Probably to make sure he actually went. _Open account soon_…he had no idea what that was code for. If they wanted him for a mission, they would have said "Access you savings". Maybe they changed the code?

"I'm going over to my friend's today. Can't this wait?" Alex asked, his voice clipped in controlled anger.

"_I'm sorry dear, but it really can't. By all means go to your friend's in the morning, just don't forget to bring your paper work with you."_

Great. They were sending escorts to Tom's house. Making a snap decision that he didn't really want to freak out Tom's parents, he replied "No, I'll be back in the afternoon to collect my paper work."

"_Okay, glad that this is going to be sorted soon! Well, see you this afternoon Alex!"_

Alex hung up at the same time as Mrs Jones. Running back into his room, he grabbed his mobile from his table and texted Tom.

_I need you to come over to my house now._

A few minutes later and there was a reply. _Okay._

Sighing, Alex put his phone down and ran a hand through his blonde hair in frustration. Going downstairs, he sought out Jack in the backyard slamming a basketball again and again into the wall.

"Jack…" Alex began.

Jack turned her eyes on Alex. Her expression softened when she found the worry hovering in his brown eyes.

"They want you again don't they?" She asked, keeping her voice down.

Alex nodded.

The two made their way back inside, but not before Jack ditched the basketball at the opposing metal fence, where it bounced off with a loud crash. The red-head had a strong temper, and she wasn't afraid who knew it.

They sat down on the couch. It wasn't long before there was a knock on the front door. Alex got up to answer it, and found himself staring at his panting best friend.

"Alex," Tom gasped out. Apparently he had run the whole way here. "Is something wrong?"

Grinning slightly at his dishevelled look, Alex invited him inside.

After locking the door, he turned to his friend.

"MI6 are back," he said grimly.

"…Oh," was all Tom could manage before Jack appeared in the doorway.

They pretty red-head gave Tom a slight smile, before moving into the kitchen to prepare Alex some breakfast.

Alex dragged Tom up the stairs and into his room so that the two could have a private chat. He didn't really want to get Jack worried, and knew that if they stayed downstairs she would be able to eavesdrop easily.

The two dropped onto the bed as Alex came clean about the phone call, about their reactions and about the dent that was now visible in the backyard fence.

"…I don't know what to do. I can't outrun them, I can't hide, and if I refuse, Jack's going to get deported," he finished.

Tom gazed at his friend for a moment. Ever since he had saved Tom from those bullies, they had been the best of friends. Tom was the only person in the entire world, besides Jack, who knew who Alex really was.

"You're going through some serious shit, Alex," he finally said.

The blonde boy just snorted. "Wow, I could have never worked that out for myself."

Tom grinned, though a moment later that grin was gone. He saw the worry in Alex's eyes, the guarded look he never lost. He saw the despair, the anger, the sadness, the pain and the terror. He knew that Alex had seen things that no one his age should have. He knew that he had done things and had things done back to him that were too painful to even recall. And most of all, he knew that Alex had never wanted any of this. He just wanted to be _normal_. But with spies for his dad, uncle and godfather, that was hardly possible.

"What are you going to do?" Tom asked.

"I'm going to the bank. I have no choice; I don't want to lose Jack."

They were silent after that until Jack came into the room, holding a tray of food.

"Eat up, Alex," she said, the worry plain in her eyes.

More to distract Alex from his predicament that anything, Tom asked, "Can I help myself too?"

It sort of worked-at least he got a smile from his friend. But then the boy's handsome features immediately sprang back to the worried expression he hadn't seen in almost a year.

"You never know, maybe it isn't a mission this time," Tom piped up a while later, just to break the silence. "They might just need you to sign something, or organise folders, or…or," he was out of ideas.

The silence returned.

After an hour had passed, Jack carried the barely touched breakfast from the room. Tom kept glancing worriedly at his friend. He wanted to take Alex out for a game, or maybe to the movies, or back to his house…well maybe not that. Taking the boy back to his house would only add to his troubles. But he wanted to do something to cheer his friend up, to take his mind off his unfair life.

An idea slowly formed in his head.

"Hey Alex…" Tom dragged.

The boy shifted from his earlier position of head-in-his-hands so that now he could see his friend even though his head was still resting on his hands.

"…Do you reckon we should make up a code like they have at MI6? Only a way cooler version?" He asked.

The teenage spy stared at Tom for a full ten seconds before his lips twitch and he began to smile. His head came up off his hands and he walked over to his door to check that Jack wasn't eavesdropping before he closed it and turned back to his friend.

"That," Alex said as he crossed back to the bed, "Is the best freakin' idea you've had in a long time, and that includes the prank on Emily last term."

Tom, pleased that he'd managed to pull his friend from his slight depression, grinned proudly as he remembered the moment Emily had run screaming from the school.

"Okay, you're the superspy. What should we do first?" Tom asked, looking expectantly at Alex.

The blonde boy grinned.

"Codes need to be easy to remember," he began, "They need to mean something only to those who know it, while at the same time sound normal enough so anyone else who hears it won't become suspicious. Codes can't be written down, because then they can be decoded.

"We should probably pick a subject or two on which the code is based. Using everyday words isn't a good idea, because they're easier to forget and harder to detect if it's a code in use or just plain chatter. However, the subject which the code's based on should also not be something we use too often, otherwise it might get confusing. But it also has to be something we talk about often enough so that it won't be suspicious. So…what subject?"

Tom looked at Alex's impromptu speech before casting his mind around for a suitable subject.

"Uh…How about music? Or music class or something?" He suggested. Since all students at Brookland were forced to take music lessons whether they liked it or not, and in these two friends case, not, it seemed to fit Alex's immensely complex description of a code. In any case, they were often complaining about it, so that fit the description of being talked about.

Alex frowned thoughtfully at Tom for a moment. "How about just school in general?" he asked.

Tom shrugged. "You're the spy," he said with a smile, "So what now? There's way too many words in the English vocabulary, or even in my vocabulary, to have a double meaning to each word. And I've no idea how I would memorise so many codes either."

Alex grinned.

"Don't worry," his said in a mocking tone, "I'm here for you."

He was rewarded with a pillow to his face.

"We only need codes for something we don't want others knowing about," Alex explained after punching Tom in retaliation.

"So, like, the 'bank' and that?" Tom asked, massaging his throbbing arm. Really, Alex did not know his own strength, and if that had been a playful punch he hated to be on the receiving end of a full knockout blow.

Alex nodded, smirking slightly as Tom winced and held his arm. Really, it couldn't have hurt that much.

"I've got one for the bank!" Tom announced. "History class."

Alex grinned. "I've got to go to history class this afternoon to, uh, find out my mark."

Tom thought for a moment. "Okay, I've got it. You've got to go to MI6 headquarters to find out your mission. Why is 'mark' mission?"

"Because I dread getting both," Alex replied with a smile.

"What about one for guns? In case you get taken hostage?" Tom asked.

Alex though about this before coming up with an answer, "Okay. 'Gun' is tests. 'Guns' are exams. And, well I hope I won't have to use this but 'sub-machine guns' can be Emily."

Tom was puzzled. "Emily? That girl we pranked? Why?"

"Because," Alex grinned, "Her screaming and the noise she made running from the school could have been used as backup in a hostage scene!"

"Oh, can we make 'bomb' bunny? That would just be hilarious!" Tom asked, doubling over in fits.

"Tell Emily to feed my bunny," Alex joked, before also collapsing into laughter.

Before it was time for lunch they had created enough codes that Alex thought if either one of them was ever caught in a hostage situation, they would be able to thoroughly confuse their captors while still managing to get out word for help.

"So what were you guys up to?" Jack asked as the two boys came down, laughing.

"We were making up a code," Alex said as they sat down.

"This looks good!" Tom exclaimed, looking down at what appeared to be leftovers from dinner the previous night. Indeed, in the space of ten months, Jack's cooking skills had taken an enormous leap. Though she would always be known for, and prefer, ten-minute food, Alex had found a recipe for some exotic food that he'd really wanted to try, so Jack had agreed to make it for him last night.

"I hope there's no textas in it!" Alex laughed before digging in.

Jack frowned. "Why would I put textas in…oh, is that part of your code?"

As both the boys had full mouths, they could only nod. Soon the meal was finished, and Jack offered to wash up so the boys could have more fun.

"We should make some for your 'boss'," Tom said as they climbed back up the stairs.

"Okay, Mr Blunt can be detention," Alex said as they sat on his bed again, "And Mrs Jones can be…um…"

"Year coordinator?" Tom suggested. Alex grinned his affirmative, locking that into his memory.

A while after that, Jack called them back downstairs. As they all peered out the window, they could see the car that almost screamed 'I belong to MI6'. Two men dressed in plain suits were making their way to the front door.

"Oh boy," Tom muttered under his breath so that only Alex could hear, "The bullies are about to white board the black hole." (Translation; The MI6 agents are about to enter uninvited into the house).

A moment later, Jack opened to door, not giving the agents a chance to knock, something with clearly surprised them. Before they could react, Alex appeared in the doorway closely followed by Tom.

"Mr Rider," One of the agents said, "We request your presence down at the bank."

Alex just nodded, hugged Jack, and left, though not before Tom had whispered in his ear "Have fun getting your marks from history."

Alex snorted. Yep, their code was definitely a good idea…

_Hey guys! That was my first Fanfic chapter ever!!!!!!!!!!!!_

_I know nothing much has happened, but I've got to set things up._

_Love Chariots99_


	2. Officially Nonexistent

**Chapter 2**

When they finally arrived at 'history class', Mrs Jones was already present in the lobby, waiting to usher Alex up the lift and into Mr Blunt's office, where she made her way to stand behind her boss.

Blunt looked just like he normally did. Clean, and creepy. Seated behind his desk, which was piled up with files, he fixed his unblinking gaze at Alex as the boy made his way into the chair opposite Blunt's table.

"Ah, Alex, I need you to read this," were the first things out of his mouth as he shuffled around the files on his desk until he found what he was looking for.

"Yes, my morning was wonderful, thank you so much for asking," Alex replied with heavy sarcasm.

Mr Blunt didn't even bat an eyelid, just handed over a file with a sheet of paper inside. On the paper seemed to be an emailed letter that they had printed out, maybe for safekeeping.

"It's from Australia," Blunt said, as if that explained everything, then waited until Alex read the letter inside.

_To MI6,_

_It has not escaped our attention that MI5 have a group of underage spies calling themselves Cherub; however we have recently been informed by ASIS that you also employ an agent under the age of eighteen. We have also been made aware that he has recently worked with ASIS. _

_Perhaps you may not have heard of us. We are an officially non-existent intelligence agency, rather like your Cherub. As such, normal laws do not apply to us. However, we would like to extend an invitation to your underage agent, and any others you see fit, for a joint training session with us before we leave for our mission. Your agent/s are not obliged to join our mission, however if they would like to participate we would gladly accept their company. The training exercise will merely give us a chance to work with international agencies._

_Perhaps your agent isn't willing to come. Perfectly understandable of course, however here is an extra piece of information which may persuade him to accept our invitation. Underage spies don't come in high numbers (with the exception of Cherub). We know for a fact that CIA attempted to place on the field last year. He was killed._

_Thus underage agents are rare, and to be one is to live in a lonely world. So it may please your agent to know that he is not alone in this world. We also have with us a fifteen year old agent, an orphan by the name of Desiree Swan. Should Mr Rider accept our invite, he will be paired with the girl, who is also one of our best agents._

_Let us know by Sunday,_

_Jacob Wood, AIS_

Alex blinked, and he reread the letter. Phrases jumped out at him, and it was those that he focused on. CIA had attempted to put an under aged agent into the field. _He was killed…_what a waste of a life. Alex wondered how they recruited the boy. Perhaps also through blackmail? He moved on.

_He is not alone in this world_…_fifteen year old agent..._God, he thought he was the only one. But no. There was another orphan, like him, forced to work for the intelligence service. He had found another person who knew what it felt like, to have seen so much, too much, and to have to deal with it! Someone he could finally talk to without fear of scaring them away…

Then another part of the letter sunk in.

"What does it mean that MI5 has a _group_ of underage spies!" He exploded. "If there's so many of them in England, why the _hell_ are you still using me? In fact, why did you even use me to start off with? Why not them?..." Alex continued to rant, letting his anger get the better of him. They had ruined his life, taken away his innocence, and it had been because he was led to believe that he was the 'only one for the job'. God how many times had they used that phrase?

Mr Blunt just let him shout. Mrs Jones, who had warned Blunt that he might react badly, unwrapped another peppermint and popped it into her mouth. Both waited until it became obvious Alex had nothing left to say, before Blunt began to talk.

"Alex, I know that you're angry. However, before you go any further, let me say that I was expecting this reaction, so I have prepared a few things in our defence. First, all the missions you have been sent on, it was only you with the skill for the job. To prove that, we have pulled the files of the top agents who currently work for Cherub. Now, you can't go revealing these facts remember, not even to your…friend."

Alex scowled, too annoyed to even ask how they knew he had told Tom.

Mr Blunt touched a button on the telephone on his desk. A moment later, a woman in her mid-twenties came in, holding a bunch of files. These she placed on Blunt's desk, after which she retreated without a word. She didn't even glance at Alex, as if working for Blunt had stolen all her curiosity like it had his innocence.

Blunt gestured towards the files, so Alex leaned in to pick them up. There were five in total, and they weren't very thick. Though, he wasn't exactly sure how thick they were supposed to be. Flicking the first one open, he found a photo of a boy, perhaps a bit younger than him, wearing a black shirt with a winged baby on the front. He glanced at the few pages, which summarised the boy's background, the missions that the boy had been on and the training that he had received.

Shuffling through the others, the found that the only similarities were that all the children had been orphaned, there was some sort of shirt coding system with black being the highest, and they always seemed to complete missions in groups.

After reading the parts detailing their missions, Alex grudgingly accepted that Blunt was right. These children hadn't been through half of what he had.

The 90 day training they had to complete to be accepted sounded like a bit of a joke compared to the SAS training he had been forced through. The kids only had one adult on their case, and they could support and help each other.

When he had been through training, he had not only the sergeant, but also the rest of the unit he had been placed with, who he was supposed to rely on but who continuously got him into trouble and made his life miserable. Plus, he had had no-one who would help him, no on-one who would support him.

Scan reading the information again, he found that the kids even had an ethics committee which decided if the missions they were to go on were too difficult. They even had a rating system!

"These kids are like human listening device with a glorified track record," Alex muttered, closing the files and setting them upon Blunt's table again.

Mrs Jones nodded.

"They don't possess half of your skill," she said, as if trying to compliment him.

Alex just rolled his eyes, then got back to the real reason he was there.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, his voice and expression carefully guarded.

"That is entirely your decision," Mr Blunt said.

That was not something Alex had expected. For a moment he was tempted to ask if the man was joking, except somehow he knew that Blunt didn't joke. This was the first time they had ever allowed him to have a say in it.

"What do you want me to do?" He repeated, just so he had something to say.

"Let me repeat, the choice is entirely up to you. If you don't go, you stay here. You enjoy the rest of your holiday. You go back to school when term starts. We have not needed your assistance in any recent missions, and I know for a fact that your housekeeper wants it to stay that way," Blunt said, his gaze never once wavering from the blonde boy.

"If you go, you leave Monday morning for Perth, Australia. You will have to report to us, of course. You will also meet the girl, the only one like you. We would also like a report on her, as we have absolutely no information about her.

"To be honest, MI6 doesn't care what you do this time. Sure it would be good to get more information about AIS, but we are not so desperate for that information that we would threaten your guardian's visa. Thus it is entirely your own choice."

Alex stared at the man for a while. They had never put him in a situation where he was allowed to make his own decision about his life. Facing one now seemed…nerve-wrecking. At least when they had been forcing him on missions, he had someone to blame if things went wrong.

"Can I think about this?" Alex finally asked.

Mrs Jones nodded. "But you have to get back to us by tomorrow…let's say at eleven. We need time to contact AIS."

Alex nodded and stood. Then he remembered another part of the letter.

"If I go, do I have to get involved with their mission?" He asked.

Mrs Jones glanced at Blunt, who turned to Alex.

"If you go, and they offer, they will no doubt tell you more about it. When they do, you must contact us, and we will decide if it is worth your talents."

Alex nodded, then turned and left.

He closed the door behind him and made his way back to the lift, where he descended into the lobby and began the journey home.

Up in Mr Blunt's office, Mrs Jones turned to her boss.

"Do you think he'll go?" She asked.

"Oh, I have no doubt. That girl, Miss Swan, is the only one like him. AIS seem to know the workings of a teenage mind. Teenagers flock together, seeking safety with people who are like them. No matter how much Alex has told Mr Harris or Jack, it won't make up for confiding in someone who is just like him in every way."

Mrs Jones paused for a moment. "So you know for certain he would go?" That explained why he hadn't even bothered to threaten Jack's visa.

The corners of Blunt's mouth twitched, just for a second.

"Yes. Otherwise I wouldn't have let him walk out." He sharply turned his head to Mrs Jones. "Do you know how little we know about AIS? The fact that they don't officially exist has allowed the government to completely wipe their existence from the face of the world. They're one of Australia's best kept secrets!

"And that girl, Desiree Swan, we've found no trace of her, no passport, no ID, not even a God dammed birth certificate! If I didn't know better, I would've said that the Australians are screwing us over. But I know for a fact they're not. There have been too many reports of her to ignore. But there's just no trace of her! If Alex can just get something, even a _photo_, I'll be happy."

There was a slight pause before Jones dared to ask, "So you're making him go on their mission then?"

Blunt nodded. "This is too good-a chance to miss. We need to see that girl in action. Some of the reports on her have been…outrageous to say the least. I want to know how true they are."

Jones sighed, before picking up the five Cherub folders and the folder with the email in it, and left Blunt's office, quietly closing the door behind her as her the head of the SO began to shift through other folders again.

_I'll go visit Smithers_, she decided as she placed the files back in their original positions, _Maybe he'll make something that'll come in handy. We don't know what that Swan girl is capable of, and I do not want Rider getting hurt_.

Firmly convincing herself that she was not getting emotionally attached to the boy, that she was just worried because he was their best agent, Mrs Jones set out to find the gadget expert.

Alex walked into his house to find that Tom had not left. True, he hadn't expected him to but it was still a nice surprise. As soon as he entered the living room, Jack jumped up and swept the teenaged spy into her arms in a bone crushing hug.

"What did they want?" She asked when she finally let go.

Alex sat down next to Tom while Jack resumed her seat. Slowly he began telling them what went on that afternoon down at 'history class'. When he revealed the fact that there was actually a group of kids his age and younger being recruited into the spy force, Jack had cried out in indignation and demanded to know why he was still being used.

So he had to go into what he read in the files, pushing aside the voice that told him Blunt hadn't wanted anyone knowing. Then he made them promise they wouldn't tell a soul.

"…So now it comes to this," he finished, "Whether to stay or to go."

"You can't go! You'll only get caught up again in this whole mess!" Jack immediately chimed in, horrified that Alex had even considered going an option.

"Wait, if you go, you'll be able to meet someone just like you?" Tom asked, seeing the reason his friend had considered the option.

Alex nodded. "If I go, I'll be able to find someone that knows what it's like to face all this," he whispered, staring at his hands.

They were silent for a while until Jack stood up to make her famous ten-minute dinner, though she knew that none of them really had the appetite.

"Tom, help me," Alex murmured, "I don't know what I should do."

"Okay, don't worry buddy, we'll sort this out. We could even sleep on it and work it out tomorrow," Tom said in his best soothing voice.

Alex sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He didn't know what to do. On one hand, he really wanted to meet the other teenage spy. He wanted to get to know someone just like him. But then…

There was no telling what could go wrong. Knowing him, something was bound to go wrong. He was a trouble magnet after all. And if something went wrong, he would be in Australia, a whole hemisphere away, with no-one to protect him, no-one to turn to…

They spent the night in silence, ate dinner in silence and turned the TV on just so that there was some noise in the Chelsea house.

While Alex had been down at the bank, Tom had popped home to inform his parents he would be staying the night at Alex's. He had then proceeded to pack a bag for his overnight stay, and rushed out the house with his hands over his ears, blocking out his parents' yelling match.

When the clock struck ten, Alex headed upstairs to wash and change. Then he swapped with Tom. Going into his room, listening to the TV that was still on downstairs, Alex sat on his bed. A mattress had already been placed on his floor, and that would be where Tom was spending the night.

Alex sighed. In the silence of the night, he had made his decision. If he was completely honest with himself, he would know that he had actually made up his mind hours ago, but he was only now just accepting it. He knew Jack would not like it.

Tom chose that moment to come in. Seeing the look on his friend's face, he immediately closed the door and dropped to his mattress on the floor.

"So, you're going then?" Tom asked.

Alex's shoulders drooped slightly, and he looked at Tom.

"Yea, I am."

.

_Hope you're enjoying it so far!_

_Love Chariots99_

_P.s. I have no idea about the term changes in England (I live in Australia after all) so for the purposes of this story, it's almost winter in England. If anyone wants to enlighten me as to what holiday they would be on, then please feel free to help me out._


	3. AIS and KUnit

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_**Claimer:**__ I __do own__ the AIS and all characters from the AIS (e.g. Desiree Swan, Jacob Wood, Terry Phillips and Dean Finley)._

**Chapter 3**

Desiree Swan woke on Sunday morning not to the sound of an alarm like most normal teenagers. No she woke to the shout of Jacob Wood, or Jake, yelling down the corridor for his unit to get up. Through squinted eyes she glanced at the battery operated clock on her table.

_5:35. Why did they have to get up so freakin' early?_

Knowing that she had five minutes to get ready and changed, she didn't waste time hanging around. Dessi grumbled to herself as she swung out of her bed to get dressed. Not as easy as it sounds. She was still sore all over after yesterday's training, not to mention almost asleep on her feet. Apparently it was good exercise to be in a sleep-deprived state.

_Really was it so much to ask for a lie in on Sunday?_ She thought. Apparently it was.

Desiree Swan was the only agent in the Southern Hemisphere who was under the age of eighteen. Being so young had its advantages, as no-one suspects children, and everyone underestimates them.

Desiree, or Dessi for short, was part of the Australian Intelligence Service, an officially non-existent intelligence agency. Being granted the status of "non-existent" allowed the agency to basically act however it wanted without any fear of prosecution. After all, how can you sue something that doesn't exist?

It was nearing summer in Australia, which meant that it would become a whole lot hotter. So Dessi stuck with a singlet and shorts, both of which were issued by the AIS, and tied her shoulder length blonde hair into a secure pony tail. Normally her hair was a whole lot shorter, because most attackers seemed to grab her hair first to restrain her, but at an order from the director, she had to let it grow.

Her room was quite small, only big enough for a bed, a table and a wardrobe (and a tiny one at that). Her room was situated on the second floor of a two storey building. The building was known as the 'DB' (they thought it stood for dorm building but they weren't too sure), and it housed two units of the AIS. Currently, the unit which lived on the ground floor were out on a mission, and if all went well they would return within a month.

On the second floor, there were four rooms. In three of them lived Dessi and two of her fellow team members. The fourth was currently empty. Normally it would have housed their unit leader, but he had been moved to the 'FB', which had been dubbed either the 'far block' or the 'f*** block' as it was the furthest dorm building from everything. Its occupants were usually the last in line for meals, which resulted in getting the worst food, and were always late to training, due to the distance to the grounds. Not that they complained-they had learned long ago it was better to just live with it.

The DB was situated near the middle of the AIS headquarters. This made it harder to get to if there were any intruders, as it housed the top two units of the AIS. It was also the smallest building out of all those which housed dorms; the top two units weren't around all that often, as they were either on missions or on the training grounds.

Exactly five minutes later, Dessi opened her door and stepped outside. The other two who lived on the same wing as her had also just gotten out. The three of them closed their doors, then stood to attention just in front of the doors in a neat line.

It wasn't long before the footsteps of Jacob Wood echoed up the only staircase in the red-brick building. A few seconds later the light brown hair of their unit leader appeared. On the top step, he turned to face the rest of his unit, his hazel eyes dancing in humour as he took in the three standing to attention while trying not to fall asleep.

Closest to the stairs was Terry Phillips, a 21 year old who had the scariest sense of direction. He could be blindfolded, spun around fifty times, dropped in the middle of nowhere, and with the blindfold still on, be able to tell you where he came from.

Opposite him was Dean Finley, a 35 year old who was basically Terry's permanent field partner. The two were the same height, seemed to enjoy eating the same foods, constantly got on peoples nerves, and constantly got their unit into trouble. Despite the huge gap in their years, they were the best of friends. Besides out on the field, age didn't matter.

The last person in their unit was Dessi. The girl was seriously just one huge mystery. Out on the field, she was constantly Jake's partner, as for some reason only the girl could both keep up with him and _put_ up with him.

"Right, I want a lap around the entire grounds _now_," Jake said, stepping out of the way of the narrow staircase. Immediately the three turned and ran past him, Terry sliding down the banister for 'fun'.

As Dessi passed him, Jake reached out and grabbed her arm.

Holding her back, he looked into her crystal blue eyes.

"The email we sent to MI6," he whispered, "They haven't replied yet. There's still time though, and we are a couple hours ahead of England. They're probably all still asleep. But don't get too upset if the boy doesn't want to come, okay?"

Desiree sighed and nodded, blinking her eyes quickly to hide the despair she knew had crossed her eyes. She had hoped that the boy, Alex, would want to meet her. Well, she wanted to meet him, really badly. To have someone who could relate to the things she talked about. Jake was alright to some extent, but he had other things to worry about, and he had a nasty temper.

Jake smiled tightly down at her, ruffled her hair slightly, and then dragged her down the stairs with him as he took off after the rest of his unit.

The first thing Alex did when he woke up on Sunday was to inform Jack of his decision. As he expected, she didn't take it too well.

Currently the two boys were hiding in Alex's room, listening through the closed door as they heard Jack scream about irresponsible intelligence agencies, throw things around the living room, then storm outside. Alex and Tome moved to the window to see Jack once again resume ditching the basketball against the wall. Hard.

Alex sighed.

"As much as I was expecting that reaction, I still wish it didn't happen," he said.

"Yea, she's doing a Ms Millbury," Tom added. Ms Millbury was one of the maths teachers at Brooklands, who had lost her temper during class so badly that she ended up throwing a table into the whiteboard. Thus she has been granted the honour of being code for 'gone crazy'.

Alex shook his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have told her first thing in the morning," he said.

"Just because she's not a morning person…" Tom said.

The two friends looked back out the window to see the backyard in ruins. _Not a morning person_ may have been a _slight_ understatement.

_At least she wasn't mad at me_, Alex thought.

After a while, Jack came back inside the house. They heard her moving around in the kitchen, slamming pots and plates harder than was necessary. Alex visibly cringed with every crash, and there wasn't much Tom could do about it.

Eventually, when it quietened down, they two boys crept down the stairs. They ate breakfast in peace, not wanting to give Jack another reason to blow up. At around ten, Alex picked up the phone and dialled the number he had been given for the bank. After informing them of his decision, he went back up the stairs to drag out his suitcase.

Tom helped Alex pack, the working silently as he folded the clothes Alex threw in his general direction.

When the clock struck twelve, the phone began ringing again. Figuring out who it could possibly be, Alex charged out of his room with Tom close on his heel, but they were too late to stop Jack from exploding at Mrs Jones.

It was around three in the afternoon when a sleek black car pulled up outside their house. Alex had been watching and waiting by the window, and the moment the car appeared he leapt out of his seat and crouched slightly by the door.

Tom had left after their awkward lunch, and Jack had shut herself in her room, so he had pretty much been left to his own devices for a while. And if he was completely honest with himself, he needed some excitement.

Peeking out of the window, he was shocked to see who MI6 had sent to pick him up. Before the agent could even open the door, Alex threw it open.

"Ben! What are you doing here?" He asked, giving the former SAS member a quick 'check over' with his eyes. He spotted the gun that Ben had tried to conceal under his thick jacket, and made a mental note to himself about it.

"I'm your escort to the bank," Ben replied, grinning slightly.

Jack chose that moment to reappear in the doorway, glaring at Ben through narrowed eyes. It took the MI6 agent all of one look to decide that she was not one to be meddled with.

"You're here for Alex," Jack commented, her voice controlled.

"Yes ma'am," Agent Daniels replied.

Jack moved forwards to hug an awkward Alex, scowling at Ben behind his back, and then left without another word.

Alex pushed past the agent out the door, his expression a firm _don't-ask_. Ben grinned and closed the door.

The two drove to the bank, Ben asking all sorts of questions about Alex's school and his friends. They were both careful about revealing anything classified though, and neither one wanted to talk about their mission together.

Mrs Jones was, as usual, waiting for them in the lobby. They entered the lift and quickly rose through the floors of the 'bank'. When they arrived at Mr Blunt's office, there was another surprise waiting.

K-unit.

Alex froze upon entering to find them; and they too seemed to freeze when he entered. Blunt decided to break through the shocked silence.

"K-unit, you will be joining Mr Rider in Australia. Alex, I believe you know these people?"

Alex nodded. Then Eagle broke out into a smile, and moved forward to pull the boy into a rough hug.

"Long time no see, Cub!" He said cheerfully. "The last time we saw you, you were skating down some mountain on an ironing board!"

At that the ice was broken. After a few minutes of mingling and idle chat, where he found that Wolf was still slightly irritated at Alex for pushing him out of a plane, Blunt called them to attention.

"Right, all of you have been briefed," he said, "So the lot of you had better get some good information on AIS. Alex, I believe Smithers has some things he would like you to have."

At that they all understood themselves to be dismissed.

After they had left, Mrs Jones turned to Blunt.

"You were right," she said, just managing to hide her look of surprise.

Mr Blunt just smiled. After all there was a reason he was head of the SO.

_ Next chapter, Alex goes to Australia!_

_ Love Chariots99_


	4. Eagles and chickens

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_**Claimer:**__ I __do own__ the AIS and all characters from the AIS (e.g. Desiree Swan, Jacob Wood, Terry Phillips and Dean Finley)._

_**Important note: **__Okay, so after word from hollyblue2 about the holiday issue I had a couple of chapters ago, Tom and Alex are OFFICIALLY at the start of their Xmas holidays. Don't know when they actually start, so I'm going to say that it is two or so week's till Christmas…_

**Chapter 4**

Plane rides were boring. That was a common fact that everyone should know. Alex had no idea how kids managed to get themselves so excited when they went on planes. What were they told? Did they believe that there was an ice-cream truck on board or something? Was the tooth-fairy coming to visit while they slept?

Alex sighed, turning his head so he could see out the window. It had been five hours since his flight had departed from England. Honestly, five hours strapped to a seat at all times unless he needed the toilet, five hours with nothing even remotely interesting on the small screen in front of him, and yet there were still children screaming and chatting like they were having the most fun in the world.

Alex had been given the window seat, and on his left was Ben Daniels. Behind him sat Wolf and Snake. On a unanimous vote, Eagle was to sit by himself.

The four original members of K-unit were accompanying him to Australia, where they would undoubtedly also participate in whatever training the AIS agents were going through before their mission. Agent Daniels, formerly Fox, had been all but ordered to accompany Alex. The three SAS members were on their break, but jumped at the chance to catch up with their former buddy (Alex wasn't sure if he was included in the 'buddy' description).

The teenage spy sighed again, and glanced at Ben. The man was asleep, lucky him, although how he managed it through the racket that the kids were making was beyond him.

That morning, he had woken up at three, with someone knocking repeatedly on his door. Jack had rushed into his room, and pulled him into a tight hug. She hated the fact that he was going, but she had begun to understand his reasons. Then she handed over a small bag which consisted of essentials, like some sweets, a pen and his passport, and also a small wrapped present, since he probably wouldn't be back for Christmas.

The banging on the door had continued for five minutes non-stop before Jack decided to answer it and invite K-unit in. Their flight would depart at five in the morning, so why they were up at three was beyond him. Of course, it wasn't until half an hour later that he managed to actually get through the door-Jack had hugged the life out of him and for a while he couldn't breathe. When he regained his breath, she had hugged him again and the whole cycle of events repeated itself.

Alex rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, trying to get comfortable. Behind him, he could hear a constant low growl as Wolf muttered under his breath.

"Wolf please give it a rest," Snake's muffled voice drifted forwards slightly.

"I would if those kids just _shut up_," Wolf growled, sending a glare at the hyperactive kids.

"Just don't think about them, shut them out like in training…Here, I'll get your iPod, and you just listen and concentrate on that…"

Alex smirked slightly at the thought of Wolf being treated like a child, before deciding that Snake's idea was actually quite good. Digging his hand into his pocket, he unravelled his iPod, stuck in the headphones, and turned the volume up to block out all noise.

The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake by Ben. Around him there was unified movement.

_Wow, I actually fell asleep_, Alex thought as he realised that they had landed.

Their flight to Perth consisted of a single stop-over in Kuala Lumpa. K-unit and Alex stumbled their way around the unfamiliar airport until they found the gate to the flight which would take them to Perth.

"At least this part of the journey is a whole lot shorter than from England here," Eagle said, bouncing up and down in excitement. Alex and the rest of K-unit glared at the hyperactive man. Honestly, it wasn't just kids that got on their nerves.

When Jake told her that Alex had agreed to come, Desiree had been so excited that she had only barely been able to restrain her emotions. When she'd been dismissed she rushed back to the DB and pounded on Terry and Dean's doors, telling them the good news before they shoved her away for disrupting them.

Then she let herself into her room, before shutting the door and leaping onto her bed.

_Honestly,_ she thought, _ I don't know why I'm so excited. For all I know the kid could be a stuck-up jerk._ That thought did nothing to calm her excitement.

She wasn't usually like this. Normally she exuded an aura of patience, despite the fact that her temper was every bit as bad as her partner's when she lost control. But she let herself off the hook just this once.

Then she sat down hard. _What if he didn't like her?_ She thought, her previous joy disappearing in a flash. After all, there was a very big chance he may not have even heard of her until that email. She knew all about her status. The government had purposely kept her without any ID. And she knew how that was useful. After all, no-one could make a better spy than a ghost.

But she knew all about him. Sure his file had been hard to get, but being part of an officially non-existent agency did have its perks. They didn't need to obey the law, just hacked into the MI6 database, and swiped all their stored information on their agents. It was from that annual swipe that Alex Rider first came to the notice of the AIS.

Dessi sighed, and got up to her desk. In the middle was a folder, which the contents of which were a photo of the boy, as well as all his background information, from his address, his history, to a detailed explanation of all his missions. They'd even managed to swipe the reports the teenage spy had written about his missions, and they were a fascinating read.

Picking up his latest report, she fell back onto her bed and began to read.

_Honestly, the boy got into more trouble than I could ever cause,_ Dessi thought, reading about persistent journalists and GM crops, exploding dams and…_Wow, being almost crocodile food, harsh._ The kid must have been through a whole lot of pain, being made to hang on like that for dear life with crocodiles swimming below him…

Making a mental note not to mention that position to Jake in case he ever decided to use it for training, she tucked the report back into the folder. Then she proceeded to flop down onto her bed. Sunday evenings they usually had off. After all, an agent who dies before a mission was pretty much worthless to the AIS. Dessi sighed and closed her eyes.

When Jake checked in on his partner later that night, she was already asleep. Smiling slightly, he closed the door and left.

"NOO!" Eagle cried, "They're out of chicken!"

"Honestly Eagle, shut up. Everyone's looking at you!" Wolf hissed, leaning around the aisle to hit the man hard in the leg.

"But I want chicken!"

"Stop being such a baby!"

"Yea, jeez Eagle, for Christ's sake!"

Alex sighed and shifted, trying to get some rest. Honestly, would he ever get any peace?

They had boarded the flight from Kuala Lumpa, and now the attendants were handing out dinner. The passengers got a choice of chicken, fish or vegetarian. Apparently, everyone wanted chicken...Just like Eagle. As a result, they overheard the attendant say that they were out of chicken a few rows down.

"Eagle will you please just _shut up_?" Ben snapped. For the shorter flight, the seating arrangements had changed. Wolf now sat alone in front of Eagle. Ben had the misfortune of being the one next to Eagle, while Alex and Snake were behind the two.

"No! Never! You will not silence OW-!" Eagle broke off, glaring around him at Alex who had just taken a swing at the man's head.

"Don't like that?" Alex taunted, "Then for the love of God, shut up!"

Snake sniggered slightly, before catching a glare from the teenage spy and falling back into his very uncomfortable chair.

Ben was now engaged in the act of trying to convince Eagle to take the fish. Evidently he managed the job for when the attendant finally reached the group, Eagle had asked for the fish. Either that or he'd taken to the smile the attendant had put on just for him.

"Here you are sir, and what would you like to drink?" She asked as she passed him his meal.

"Some coke would be-"

"No," Ben said firmly, cutting Eagle off, "He'll have some apple juice and I'll take some coffee."

When the attendant had moved on to Alex and Snake, Eagle leaned in and pinched Ben.

"Ow," He hissed, "What was that for?"

"Ordering for me. Why didn't you let me get coke?" Eagle replied, and for a man his voice sounded remarkably like a whine.

"Because you're high enough as it is. I don't need to spend the rest of this journey with you on a caffeine and sugar high." Ben replied firmly.

"Amen to that," Snake grinned.

"But apple juice's got sugar too," Eagle whined.

"Eagle," Ben said.

"Yea?" Eagle asked.

Ben turned to glare at him. "Shut up."

Desiree woke up the next morning before the sun was even up, to find that she never changed when she fell asleep. Hell she couldn't even remember falling asleep, but that was beside the point. She was strangely excited, and for a moment couldn't remember why. Then her eyes caught sight of the folder which still lay on her desk.

_Oh my God, Alex's coming today!_ She thought suddenly elated.

A rap on her door startled her for a moment, before the door opened and Jacob popped his head in.

"You're up? Good. Before we leave for the airport, I want a run around the grounds. No complaints," he added as Dessi opened her mouth.

With a snap she shut it and glared at Jake, who left to wake up the other two using less subtle means.

"PHILLIPS! FINLEY! UP NOW!" He roared. Twin echoing thumps told Dessi that the two had fallen out of bed, startled at the sound.

Grinning recklessly, Desiree got off her bed to get changed. It was quite hot that day, even though the sun had not yet risen. Which only meant that when it did, the day would be a whole lot hotter. Probably more humid too. So the girl just stuck to some denim shorts and a midnight blue short sleeved shirt before leaving for her run.

Only when she was halfway around the grounds of the AIS headquarters, and her hair was sticking disgustingly to her neck, did she realise that she had forgotten to tie it back.

_Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!_ She thought repeatedly inside her head, trying to dislodge her hair. She was going to need a long shower when she got back.

Alex, Ben and K-unit stood in the massively long line that waited to get clearance from the passport control booths. He was sitting on his luggage, too tired to stand. The line was also not moving, as there was some problem or other with the family that was currently at the front.

Honestly, with all the sniffer dogs walking around, and the huge posters hung up on the walls telling people to bin food and declare stuff, you'd think that one _small_ slip would cause a catastrophe or something.

Although on second thoughts, it probably could do a lot of damage.

Australia is a very peculiar country. The largest island, the smallest continent, filled with forests and deserts, country sides and modern cities, beautiful exotic reefs and rock formations. It seemed like the land was full of exact opposites.

Being an island, as Alex knew too well from geography, meant having an extremely delicate ecosystem, one which could easily be disrupted if an alien species or disease were to come into contact with the local bionetwork. So there probably was a good reason for all the tight security at the airport. But knowing this did nothing to calm Alex's annoyance.

"It looks like we'll be here for at least another half hour," Wolf muttered.

Alex groaned. On top of jetlag, he didn't think he could handle this as well.

Desiree got into the back of the car, having been shoved out of the way of the front by Terry despite calling shotgun.

Slightly disgruntled, she sat down with a huff. Dean sat beside her, throwing her an amused look.

At least Jake was doing the driving and not Terry. Desiree didn't think that her nerves could handle Phillips' maniacal driving this early in the morning. But still, Jake drove like a grandma unless he was on the run.

"Are you going to drive any faster?" Dessi asked, slightly annoyed. She hadn't got back to her room in time to have a shower, so now her sweat was drying in the hot air that the open windows were letting in. She hadn't changed either, so the boy better not have anything against denim shorts or the colour of midnight blue.

"Anxious to see him?" Terry teased from the front. Dessi scowled slightly, and reached forward to pinch the nerve in his neck. Terry jumped in shock and pain, causing both Dessi and Dean to snigger.

"Enough you two," Jake ordered, "And Dessi, do you want to get pulled over? Cause I certainly don't."

"Don't worry, well get there in time," Dean said in his calm way, "After all, customs' a bitch and they'll probably be stuck there for an hour. We just need thirty or so minutes 'till we're there, so don't worry." Dessi favoured the man with a smile. Having no parents or siblings that she knew of, she really saw Dean as a fatherly figure and since the man had kids, he was able to act like one too.

There was silence for about ten seconds. Then Terry started to chant "_Dessi likes Alex, Dessi likes Alex…"_

He had done the same thing so many times in the past week now that Desiree was rather used to it, and only replied in a smooth voice, "If you want to be unconscious for the rest of this trip, then by all means keep chanting."

That shut Terry up almost immediately. He had been knocked out already the first and second time he started that chant, and both times they had _hurt_.

"I thought so," Dessi whispered smugly.

Jake just rolled his eyes.

"Oh my God, we're finally through!" Eagle exclaimed, doing an impromptu jig that caused everyone in the vicinity to stare at him.

It had taken them an hour to get through passport control. By now they're tempers had all been worn extremely thin, and most of them were extremely annoyed. Well, except it seemed, Eagle.

"Please, for the love of God, stop dancing," Wolf groaned, grabbing the man by one of his wildly waving arms and dragging him and his luggage over to the others. Alex and Ben sniggered at Eagle's behaviour, while Snake just rolled his eyes.

Having had the training that the five of them had meant that they knew exactly what they needed. As a result they had very little luggage with them.

"Now it's just customs left," Snake said.

Australian security was pretty tight. In most countries, if you had nothing to declare you were waved straight through. In Australia, if you had nothing to declare you were still checked over. If they found something you should've declared, then be prepared for a pretty hefty fine.

The officer in charge of managing the customs line took one look at the sheet of paper Wolf thrust under his nose before he waved the five people to the front of the line. The paper had been a letter saying who they were and their clearances, along with signatures from the head of the SO, Mr Blunt.

The customs check went pretty quickly, for none of them had brought any food, animal or plant related items into the country. They wouldn't need them. No guns either, though Alex had the handful of gadgets given to him by Smithers which had been specially designed to go through a customs search without raising suspicion.

Finally they were waved into the country with a smile, and the five dragged their respective suitcases with them as they passed through the automatic sliding doors.

At which point the came to a halt. The 'waiting lounge' as it was so called was packed full of people waiting for the arrivals. Many of them glanced curiously at the five men, before shifting their eyes to try and see past the door that they were now blocking.

Slowly Alex and K-unit moved through the crowd.

"Do you know what they look like?" Alex muttered to Wolf, who shook his head.

"MI6 don't have any photos of AIS," Ben provided.

"Well, that's great to know now," Alex grumbled.

He swept his gaze around the crowd of people, until his eyes caught the remarkably blue ones of a girl on the other side of the 'lounge', standing with three other men who were all looking at the arrivals' door.

She looked roughly his age, with shoulder length blonde hair and a slender figure. She held his gaze curiously, and even in his jet lagging, irritated state, Alex couldn't help but notice how extremely pretty she was. The though made him blush slightly, and he lowered his eyes.

That didn't really help. The girl was wearing really short denim shorts, which showed off almost all of her legs. Hastily, Alex raised his eyes again, to see her crystal blue eyes light up in recognition.

Abandoning the men she was with, she raced across to him. In that short run, Alex's well trained eyes spotted the ease of her gait, and the natural balance she seemed to have. Three was also a stage of alertness that never seemed to leave her eyes.

As she arrived by his side, the rest of K-unit seemed to notice her arrival. Eagle's mouth dropped open slightly, though whether it was because of the open expression of happiness on the girl or whether it was because he never thought that anyone would, in their right minds, be interested in Cub, no-one found out. After a moment, Snake elbowed Eagle painfully to make him shut his mouth.

"Hi," the girl said, not even panting after her run, "You must be Alex!"

Alex was slightly taken aback. He had no idea who she was, and was pretty sure he'd never seen her before, ever.

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, the girl laughed.

"I'm Dessi, Desiree Swan," she said, holding out her hand, "I'm just like you!"

_Ta-daa! Chapter 4 is done!_

_Love Chariots99_


	5. Food Breaks and Handguns

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 5**

"_Hi," the girl said, not even panting after her run, "You must be Alex!"_

_Alex was slightly taken aback. He had no idea who she was, and was pretty sure he'd never seen her before, ever._

_Seeing the confusion in his eyes, the girl laughed._

"_I'm Dessi, Desiree Swan," she said, holding out her hand, "I'm just like you!"_

They had given Alex, Ben and K-unit what was left of Monday to rest and get over jet lag, though Jake still forced the teenage girl, the only real reason Alex had come, to go training. So after a small nap, Alex felt that he had recovered enough, and he left the DB in search of something to quench his boredom with, and perhaps also something to eat since he had managed to sleep through lunch.

It was around 2:05 in the afternoon, and the moment Alex set foot outside of the DB he was hit with a massive heat wave that made him want to turn straight back inside. Gritting his teeth, he kept going. Honestly, training in this heat? These Australians must be crazy!

The last of the lunch smell still lingered in the extremely hot air, and following his sensitive nose, Alex located the canteen. As soon as he was out of the sun and in the shade, everything was so much colder. The canteen didn't have any air-con, and yet it felt like it was ten degrees cooler.

_Strange country,_ Alex thought with a shake of his head.

The canteen was quite large, especially compared to the cramped hole that was his temporary bedroom. Directly opposite the door was what appeared to be a metal counter. Behind that counter was a kitchen, with shelves of bread and a really big fridge. There was probably also a freezer somewhere, but it wasn't in plain view.

The rest of the canteen was filled with tables and chairs. As he looked closer, it became apparent that all the tables were surrounded by exactly four chairs. Apparently, the AIS used the same structure in their units as the SAS did.

There were three people still eating in the canteen, though he was pretty sure someone had mentioned that lunch finished at 1:30.

_They probably keep it open for late comers or something,_ Alex thought.

As he made his way to the counter, the three people looked up at him in curiosity. They were seated together, so they must be in the same unit. Dimly he wondered where their fourth member was, as he stared back at them, slightly unnerved.

"Er, hello?" Alex called when he finally reached the counter, wincing slightly as his voice echoed around. There was a slight pause before a loud crash shattered the awkward silence. Then a brown haired woman popped her head around.

"Oh, hi! I thought we served the rest but apparently not!" She said in extremely good spirits, giving Alex a cheerful smile as she brought the rest of her body around to the counter. "What can I get you, young man?"

"Um…what do you have?" Alex asked, not trying to sound rude. The woman gave him a strange look, then raised her eyebrows as she stared at him. Alex took the opportunity to examine her. She looked to be about twenty-two, with long brown hair tied back in a bun. Dark brown eyes examined each and every feature on his face.

Then abruptly, she smiled again.

"You must be that kid from England!" She exclaimed, extending her hand forwards, "I'm Anna, the cook and dressmaker for the AIS! Have you met Desiree yet?"

"Er, yea I met her earlier this morning. And I'm Alex," the teenage spy said, slightly nervous. Anna seemed to have to ability to change from emotion to emotion extremely rapidly, and he just wasn't comfortable around people like that. They could be slightly unpredictable.

"You know, that girl's been talking about you for _ages_. Ever since we found out about you! She must be really excited!"

"Um, yea…"

"Oh, where are my manners? You must be _starving_! Go take a seat, and I'll get you a sandwich," Anna grinned, gesturing at the almost empty canteen. Then, abruptly, the smile went off her face to be replaced with a frowned as she glared at something behind Alex's back.

"What are you three staring at?" She suddenly yelled, making Alex jump slightly, "I did NOT keep the canteen open so you could stare at the first strange face you see! GET BACK TO EATING!"

Alex turned to the three men who were in the canteen, smothering a smile as they all hastily turned their heads back to their respective sandwiches. Anna was beginning to remind him of Jack.

That thought brought about a bought of homesickness. Alex sat down, trying to push away the thoughts of Jack and Tom. What were they doing? Probably getting ready for Christmas. It seemed so strange to be here, hot and stuffy, while knowing that it was probably snowing back in England.

_It's going to be my first Christmas in summer,_ Alex thought, _This is really a strange place._

It wasn't long before Anna came back carrying a plate with a sandwich on it along with a glass of water. Before she could place them down on the table, however, the missing member of the still eating unit returned. He was apparently their leader.

"Unit five! I said to be done at two fifteen sharp. _Do you know what the time is now?"_ The man yelled. His unit jumped, and dropped their sandwiches onto their plates before springing up to attention.

"You three are the _worst_ bunch of agents I've seen in my life! Do you want to be _killed _on your first mission? Do you-" the man was abruptly cut off as Anna slammed the plate and glass she was carrying onto the table, angling the cup so Alex wouldn't be splashed with water.

"Mr Wilkes, _behave yourself_," She shouted, "You are in my _canteen,_ so I _expect _you to use your _inside voice_! Get out of here before you finish your lecture!"

Wilkes stared at Anna a moment too long, for she then yelled, "THAT WASN'T A SUGGESTION, UNIT LEADER! GET OUT BEFORE I PUT YOU ON A 'FOOD BREAK'!" Apparently, she wasn't aware of the word 'hypocrite', nor of its meaning.

Wilkes and unit five scrammed at that, running as fast as they could, which was pretty fast, out of the canteen.

The brunette scowled at their retreating backs for a moment, before sitting down opposite Alex, her previous expression replaced with a cheerful smile.

The teenage spy stared at her for a moment, before quickly grabbing his sandwich for a bite. He didn't want to get on the wrong side of someone who could intimidate an entire unit into retreat. Anna watched the boy as he ate.

"Do you like it?" She asked after a while, her voice back to a normal level.

His mouth full of the sandwich, Alex just nodded. In truth, it was quite nice, the lettuce rather refreshing in the heat.

"So, Dessi tells me you're also an orphan?" Anna started. Alex, who was by then drinking deeply from his glass, merely jerked his eyebrows in reply.

"Yep, Dessi's an orphan too," she said, "Doesn't have many friends. Well, actually she doesn't have any, if you don't count me. I think it's good that you're here. She doesn't often see people her own age."

"Why not?" Alex asked, finishing his water and going back to his sandwich, "Doesn't she have to go to school?" His words were slightly muffled by the food in his mouth, but he covered his mouth with a hand, and honestly Anna didn't notice.

"No. The girl hasn't ever been to school. I'm not going into it," she added, seeing the look on Alex's face, "You'll have to ask her. But just so you do know, she's not very used to dealing with people her own age. The youngest person she sees on a regular basis is Jake, and that's not a very healthy thing. So if she comes across as too shy or too enthusiastic, just ignore it, okay? She's really a good person, just been through some shit when she was young."

Alex was silent for a while, chewing pensively on his sandwich.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked slowly, when he'd swallowed his mouthful.

Anna gave him a slightly sad smile. "I'm her friend aren't I? And also the closest thing she has to a family. I don't like to see her get hurt. But I don't want you to reject her or treat her strangely if she acts…different. Give her some time to get used to you."

"You know, I haven't really had a decent conversation with her yet. But I'll keep what you said in mind," Alex said.

Abruptly, Anna's smile became cheerful again, "And that's all I ask. So Agent Rider," she said in an abrupt topic change, "Any questions so far? Need any advice on how to pass the time?"

Alex raised his eyebrow slightly at being addressed thus. _Agent Rider,_ he thought, _that actually sounds quite good…_

"Umm, what's a 'Food Break'? You yelled it at that man earlier on," he asked.

Anna's grin broadened, if that was at all possible.

"When you're constantly training, like right before a mission," she said cheerfully, "You really need your food. The director knows that, so he said if I ever needed to control anyone in the canteen, I was allowed to threaten them on a Food Break. It's basically when I don't give them any food for three meals, and they only get water. You know, a break from food, thus Food Break."

Alex stared at her with a slightly shocked expression, while making a mental note never to get on Anna's wrong side. He had experienced food rations, and limited food supplies and all that, but at least he'd the gotten food.

"So, um," he stuttered, slightly afraid to ask, "How many people have gotten Food Breaks?"

"Oh, the entire of unit six plus about three others. They had it coming to them though, for starting that fight right over there," Anna pointed to the empty space before the counter, "But I usually just threaten people. It's not nice going without three whole meals."

"I never thought it was," Alex muttered. First Christmas in the middle of summer, then a twenty-two year old with multi-personality syndrome, and now this? This place was getting stranger by the second.

"Honestly, for the love of God, _please_ can we stop?" Terry whined, not backing down from Jake's glare while shaking his throbbing hand.

"No. And keep whining, Terry, by all means please do if you have no other way of telling me you want to run laps around headquarters until midnight." Jake replied.

Terry huffed indignantly.

"I'm not that stupid," he said.

"You've yet to show us any proof," Dean muttered.

The four of them were on the shooting range. Though they didn't need to use their guns for every mission, it was still better to make sure they _could_ use them, just in case.

"Hey Dessi, bet you five bucks you can't beat me!" Terry said.

Desiree raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

She raised her the same time as Terry raised his. All AIS units were taught instinctive shooting, and had had that drilled into their memory. So the two agents rapidly emptied their guns onto the targets, turned to the table in between them and disassembled the guns.

They ended up finishing at the same time. As the targets were brought forwards, they could all see the distinctive holes that the bullets made. Desiree's was a lot smaller than Terry's, signifying her better aim, though she had a random bullet hole off to one side.

"I think it's a draw," Jake said. Dessi stuck her tongue out at him. She knew that she'd won, and so did Terry; after all, she had the more precise hole layout. But Jake didn't approve of his team betting against each other.

"Hey, can I try that? I haven't shot anything for a while," a voice came from a few metres away.

The unit turned to see Alex walking towards them, a tentative smile on his face. As soon as was polite, he'd escaped Anna at the canteen. Walking around, he'd heard the gunshots, and came over to find the range.

Seeing the teen, Desiree lit up.

"Hey Alex!" She said, almost taking out Terry's head as she stuck her arm into the air and waved. Alex grinned and waved back, speeding up into a run to reach them faster.

"Rider, gotten over your jetlag?" Jake asked. He was only a few centimetres taller than the boy, something he'd noticed with immediate dislike.

"Yea, I've travelled before so I'm used to it. But if you don't tell K-unit when to wake up, they'll sleep in until next year-" Alex broke off as Dean walked up behind him and shoved a gun into his hand. Alex looked at it, and using his peripherals, analysed the disassembled guns that still lay upon the table. They appeared to be the same, so there was less chance it would blow up in his hand.

Seeing the teen's hesitation, Dean added, "It's a standard, Rider. We've all got the same. Don't worry, I wouldn't rig it."

Alex smiled, as Dessi quickly reassembled her gun.

"Race you!" She said, motioning for him to take Terry's spot. New targets had already replaced the ones they had shot.

Simultaneously, the two teens began shooting. They emptied their clips at the same time, and turned to the table to disassemble their guns. They finished that at the same time too. Desiree gave Alex a cheerful smile as the two targets were brought forwards.

Desiree's was like her previous attempt, a small number of holes tightly packed in the centre, though this time none of her shots had gone off target. They turned to look at Alex's, and froze. There was only a single hole, signifying that all the bullets had hit the same spot.

The unit looked at Alex in shock, much to the boy's discomfort.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Terry asked slowly.

"Umm, classified?" Alex said in a slightly small voice. After all, he wasn't going to tell these people about the training he'd received at Scorpia.

Then Desiree broke out into a grin.

"Awesome! Can you teach me how to do that? I've outshot Jake ages ago, and now there's no-one who can help me!" She exclaimed, oblivious to the death glares sent her way, courtesy of her field partner.

"Umm, okay," Alex smiled, though he wasn't really sure how sure he was of his answer.

_And that's chapter 5. _

_Love Chariots99_


	6. Breakfast and Bullet Runs

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_**Claimer:**__ I __do own__ the AIS and all characters from the AIS (e.g. Desiree Swan, Jacob Wood, Terry Phillips and Dean Finley)._

_**Note: **__Although Ben has officially left K-Unit and joined MI6, he's going to be grouped in with them just so I don't have to keep typing "Alex, Ben and K-Unit". It's basically just me making my life easier._

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter 6**

Ben was dreaming about, of all things, food. Normally, that was Eagle's job. He knew he'd slept for almost twenty-four hours straight. Since arriving in Australia, he and the rest of K-unit had just crashed down into their rooms and slept. Though they had been given the day off, it still wasn't very professional.

He'd already woken up twice. Both times because of his stomach. Well, he shouldn't really have been surprised. After all, he did miss lunch and dinner.

Ben sighed, rolling over again. Suddenly a loud roar made him sit bolt upright, startled into thinking he was back at the SAS training camp.

"K-UNIT! GET YOUR LAZY ASSES OUT OF BED!" Jake roared. When he heard two thuds and a few gasps of surprise, he proceeded to make his way up the stairs.

"UNIT ONE AND RIDER! UP! NOW!" He shouted.

Alex shot up in shock. How the _hell_ could Jake make his voice so loud? Not even the sergeant at the SAS camp managed, and he was a lot older than Jake.

With a groan, he got out of bed. At dinner the night before, Desiree had explained their loose schedule to him.

"_We get called up at 5:35 sharp every morning. I don't know why they don't just make it at half past, but…Anyways, then you basically have exactly 5 mins to shower and change and whatever else you have to do. I would suggest though," she had said, waving around her fork that still had bolognaise sauce all over it, "That you don't shower when you get up. Because after 5 minutes, whatever you've got on, you wear."_

_That part she had emphasised with a slight jerking motion of her fork, which dislodged some of the sauce, causing it to fly off and hit Terry in the face._

"_Oops, sorry Terry," Dessi winced._

"_Anyway, then after five minutes, you get out into the corridor and stand in front of your door until Jake comes back. And remember," she added, now playing with her food, "Better early than on time._

"_After that everyone goes for a run, even those sleepy heads you call SAS soldiers. Ha, they'll be in for a surprise tomorrow!" At which point she had dissolved into giggles. Alex smiled reluctantly, not at all sure that Jake would be able to handle Wolf's temper in the morning._

"_So the run," Dessi continued when she recovered, "Is around the entire grounds. We usually do a Cat and Mouse, where we get a head start before Jake starts. You do _not_ want him to catch up to you. That would mean that you have to re-run the entire thing twice, then at the end do whatever number of push-ups he wants you to. So beware. After the run is when you should shower. You'll be soaked with sweat by the end in this weather. The rest of the day is always different though. Any questions?"_

_Alex stared at her for a moment, then slowly said, "I don't think Wolf'll take it too well. And he's a lot older than Jake, and heavier too. Probably better trained as well."_

_Desiree smirked._

"_He wouldn't dare to try anything on Jake," she said, "Besides, Jake's old too. He's like twenty-one!" At which point Jake ha promptly leaned over and smacked his field partner in the head._

"_Don't worry about him," Dessi continued, rubbing the back of her head, "He'll be fine."_

Somehow, Alex highly doubted that Jake would be fine after Wolf got his hands on him. But he hadn't liked to prod further.

_Five minutes_, Alex thought. Stumbling around, he got dressed in some shorts, and pulled on the first shirt he could find. Stumbling out of his room, he found that the only bathroom on his floor had already been taken.

Glancing at his watch, he was slightly shocked to find that it had taken him three minutes to get up and dressed.

Dean came out of the bathroom a few seconds later, grunting a greeting at Alex. Apparently, he was _not_ a morning person.

Alex was just about to go into the bathroom when a smaller figure pushed past him and slammed the door in his face.

"Hey!" He shouted indignantly, "I was in line!" He ignored the voice in his mind which was telling him that he sounded like a child.

"Too bad," Desiree's taunting voice came floating back. Alex greeted his teeth, but the door swung open a few seconds later.

"Didn't wet yourself did you?" She teased on her way out. Alex just rolled his eyes and went in, making sure to lock the bathroom door behind him.

"One minute," Terry muttered, glancing at his watch. Alex came back out to find that the other three were already standing in front of their doors. He made his way to his.

"Now," Dean whispered. Almost immediately, Jake could be heard shouting down stairs.

"K-UNIT! WHAT KIND OF LAZY ASSED SOLDIERS DO YOU CALL YORSELF? GET OUT OF BED BEFORE I MAKE YOU! AND THAT WILL NOT BE PRETTY! UP NOW!" Jake shouted, banging on the doors of each room.

Before he could slam his fist against Wolf's door, it was wrenched open. Alex and the rest of unit one listened with some fascination.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, ORDERING MY UNIT AROUND?" Wolf roared, "THEY RESPOND TO ME AND TO ME _ONLY_, WOOD!"

Upstairs, unit one winced. When Alex looked questioningly at Dessi, she mouthed, _Never address Jake with his name, first or last, until he lets you. _He nodded.

There was silence downstairs. Then Jake started talking again, and although the volume of his voice had dropped, each and every syllable he spoke with filled with an icy venom that paralysed unit one and, although they couldn't see it, the rest of K-unit who had filled out of their rooms.

"Now you listen to me carefully,_ soldier,_" Jake spat on the last word, "Here your rank means _nothing._ All your past achievements mean _nothing_. All your training means _nothing_. Here, you are on the same level as them," he said, jerking his thumb towards the rest of K-unit. "They may not think so, and you may not think so, but that is how I'll treat you. So when I tell you to get up, you_ get up_, or I'll make sure you wish you had. Understand?"

Wolf snorted into Jake's face. To be honest, he was scared. But he couldn't let the rest of his unit see that.

"And what can _you _do to _me_?" Wolf sneered.

"I think you're forgetting about something," Jake said, his voice even quieter, "AIS doesn't exist. We don't follow any laws here. I can do anything I like to you. Even if it is against the law, because no-one will care. No one will even _remember_. Except for you. And trust me when I say this. Those nightmares you have about the wars you've fought in? They will be almost pleasant dreams. So I ask again; do you _understand, soldier?_"

It seemed for a second that the world had frozen. The four upstairs held their breaths. Alex knew before Wolf did that the man was going to back down. And he was right.

"Understood, sir," Wolf muttered, lowering his eyes.

"Good." Jake turned to find the rest of K-unit staring at him, something close to awe in their eyes. "Next time, if even _one _of you isn't awake, this entire unit will miss lunch for three days, in addition to whatever other punishment I come up with. Now RUN! I want a lap around the grounds NOW!"

K-unit bolted for the door, eager to put as much distance as they can between them and the twenty-one year old who'd managed to over-rule Wolf.

Jake turned and walked back up the stairs. Even in his angry state, Alex could only barely make out his footsteps. That in itself told him how dangerous the man could be when he wanted to.

"Unit one. Rider. Glad to see you're all out of bed," Jake addressed them calmly. If Alex hadn't just heard him explode downstairs with his own ears, he would never have believed it.

_I have so got to learn some control like that,_ he thought.

"You'll be running pairs today. No Cat and Mouse. This is so Rider has a chance to become familiar with the grounds. Dessi, you're partnering Rider, and you two are obviously together," Jake added, glancing from Terry to Dean, "Go now."

Terry and Dean scampered down the stairs, Terry taking some time to slide down the banisters. Desiree looked at Alex with eager eyes, waiting for him to move first. Giving Jake a little space, Alex set off with Dessi on his heels.

After the shout-down with K-unit, it was now 5:45, meaning that they were behind schedule. Even this early though, the hot Australian sun was up, and heating the entire day.

"Told you Jake could take care of himself," Desiree's smug voice came from Alex's side. He looked down at the shorter girl.

"I never said I didn't believe you," he lied. She just grinned at him.

"So do you know what we're doing today?" Alex asked just to change the topic.

"Um, I think we're practicing Bullet Runs, but maybe Jake's changed it. It definitely was going to be Bullet Runs when we asked last week," Dessi added, "But you've probably never done it before, so he might change it to something easier."

"I'm almost afraid to ask this, but what are 'Bullet Runs'?" Alex said warily.

Desiree grinned at him. "I'm not telling you. It might ruin the surprise!"

At that point Jake caught up with them.

"Swan! Rider! I said no Cat and Mouse so you would get used to the grounds, not so you could run like grandmas and chat! Get a move on!" Jake snapped at them.

Desiree turned to Jake with wide eyes, a well practiced innocent expression in place. Alex cringed and picked up his pace. He did not want to be within exploding distance of Jake. But before he could put much ground between them, the girl had started talking.

"But Jake, if we run so fast that we can't even see the place, how will Alex get himself acquainted?" She asked in the most innocent tone she could manage while running.

Jake scowled, grabbing Dessi's wrist and stopping them both.

"Drop and give me fifty push-ups for being a try hard. Go," he ordered, and the girl literally dropped to the dried out grass to start her punishment.

Before Alex could think of what to do, Jake turned on him.

"Don't think I'm letting you off just because you're new," he said, "I have perfectly good eyes. I saw you trying to get away. Drop and give me twenty for trying to abandon your partner. Out in the field, that could have cost her life."

Alex didn't even want to point out that he had never been given a partner before. He just did as he was told.

Unsurprisingly, he finished his twenty way before Desiree finished her fifty. When the girl finally got back up, she was soaked with sweat, her arms shaking slightly. Glaring at Jake, she turned and dragged Alex off.

When they put a safe distance between them and Jake, who had turned around and was heading back to the DB to face off with K-unit, the two felt it was safe to talk again.

"That was slightly unfair, wasn't it? I mean, all you did was talk back and you got fifty," Alex said.

The girl snorted. "Of course! But since when has Jake ever been fair to me?"

Having not known Jacob Wood for that long, Alex kept his mouth shut.

Unsurprisingly, they got back way after the rest of their unit, who had already been sent with K-unit for breakfast.

"Shower. Breakfast. Bullet Runs," Jake ordered, before going down to the canteen.

"Jerk," Dessi muttered under her breath.

"So has he always been like that?" Alex asked when they had both finished showering.

"For as far as I remember," Dessi answered, leading the way to the canteen, "He needs to have someone to constantly pick on, otherwise he bottles too much of it up. Then when he does explode…well, it's a lot less pretty than this morning."

Alex winced slightly and nodded in understanding.

They arrived in the canteen to find that it was packed. Hardly surprising, since their morning run around AIS headquarters had taken them close to two hours to complete, and that was not counting the punishment they were given halfway through.

At the counter, Anna spotted the pair and excitedly waved them over. The agent she was currently serving looked slightly annoyed that he'd been ignored, and made a point of glaring at the pair before stalking off.

"Hey Dessi! What took you so long? You're normally the first one in here!" Anna exclaimed, pulling the girl into as much of a hug as was possible, considering she had to lean across the counter to do it. When she let the girl go, she spotted Alex standing awkwardly behind her.

"Alex! You're not dead!" Anna said with a fake air of surprise. Alex smiled at her.

"Almost though," he said, causing her to grin.

"So," she said turning back to Dessi, "Why are you so late?"

Desiree snorted her eyes on the pieces of toast Anna had set aside specially for her.

"Jake decided that I should do a couple of push ups for talking back, and Alex should do some too for wanting to get away from him," she said, "Is that mine?" She added, pointing at the toast.

Desiree's hunger obviously stopped her from noticing the eyes that Anna had suddenly narrowed. Wordlessly, the woman handed Dessi and Alex some toast, and directed them to the milk and jam.

Alex took one look at Anna's face, grabbed Desiree's wrist and dragged her as far away from Anna as was possible. It wasn't far enough.

"JACOB EMANUEL WOOD!" Anna shouted. Jake choked on a piece of toast as the canteen went deathly silent.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I WARNED YOU TO _NOT_ GIVE OUT PUSH UPS TO OTHERS FOR WHAT YOUR MEASLY LITTLE BRAIN THINKS IS A PUNISHABLE CAUSE?"

Alex blanched slightly. _Oh boy, we're really going to get it now._ Beside him, though, Desiree had thrust aside her toast in favour of clamping both hands over her mouth so her giggles couldn't be heard.

"HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN THIS _STUPID_, OR ARE YOU JUST MAKING A SPECIAL EFFORT TODAY FOR THE VISITORS?"

Many of the agents in the canteen were backing away as fast as they could. Dessi had doubled over in silent laughter, and Alex's shock became mingled with slight amusement.

"SERIOUSLY JAKE, GROW UP! HOW OLD ARE YOU? OR CAN'T YOU COUNT THAT HIGH? NO, DO NOT GIVE ME THAT LOOK! I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE AND I'LL TELL YOU AGAIN, SINCE YOU'RE BRAIN CANNOT SEEM TO HOLD INFORMATION FOR MORE THAN A DAY. YOU HONESTLY LOOK LIKE BAMBI WITH FREAKIN' TESTOSTERONE! SO WIPE THAT LOOK OFF YOUR FACE, IT'S SICKENING! AND DON'T _EVER_ LET ME CATCH IT AGAIN!" Giving the shocked leader one last glare, Anna turned to Terry and Dean both of whom had imitated Dessi and had clamped both hands over their mouths.

"So how was your morning run?" Anna asked them quite cheerfully.

Dean recovered first and opened his mouth, only to start laughing again. Terry had fallen off his chair in silent fits, and over in the corner where Alex had dragged her, Desiree was rolling around on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes.

Alex on the other hand had only just gotten off his shock, and judging by the looks on the K-unit's faces, they were in shock too.

By the time they had all calmed down enough to finish their breakfast, Jake was looking rather subdued. But his unit knew that that wouldn't last long, especially since they had Bullet Runs next.

"Alright kiddies!" Jake yelled when his watch struck nine, "Off to Bullet Runs now!"

Jake, Terry and Dean lead the way, as K-unit followed and Dessi and Alex brought up the rear.

"Won't he retaliate?" Alex whispered to Dessi, pulling the girl further back so they couldn't be heard.

Dessi smiled. "Hardly. He's scared of Anna. If he retaliated, and Anna found out, he'd be even worse than dead."

Alex gaped at her for a second before the two rushed to catch up with the rest.

They walked in silence after that, until they reached a large oval which they had skimmed around in their morning run. Right in the centre of the oval was what looked like a post with three shotguns chained to it. From some pocket or other in his shorts, Jake pulled out a small box filled with what appeared to be bullets. He then loaded the three shotguns with the bullets and straightened up.

"Right ladies, and Dessi," Jake said, just so everyone was included in the insult, "We're going to do some Bullet Runs! Have you ever done these before?" he asked, his eyes sweeping over Alex and K-unit, all of whom shook their heads.

"Cool, then allow us to demonstrate! You guys had better just lie on the ground though. We don't want any injuries today."

Alex and K-unit did what they were told.

"Right, first thing you have to know is that these guns are loaded with rubber bullets, not real ones. So if you get hit, it'll just hurt like hell, but it won't kill you-"

"Not that that's a lot of reassurance," Desiree muttered.

"Dessi!" Jake said, as if seeing the girl in a whole new light. She looked at him cautiously, knowing that when he spoke in that tone, he was concocting a plan that she wouldn't like. "Thank you for volunteering to demonstrate to our guests what Bullet Runs are!"

The girl stared incredulously at Jake, and for a moment Alex thought she was going to refuse. Then she stuck out her tongue and spun, jogging across to where Alex figured was the starting line. When she got there, she began stretching while Jake turned back to giving them instructions.

"So this drill was created in an attempt to familiarize our agents with running from bullets. Thus, Bullet Run," Jake explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "What you have to do is run around the oval following the marked tracks. We," he continued, motioning to himself, Dean and Terry, "Will be armed with these shotguns, and we shoot at you. Well, a little behind you but all the same…

"The tracks must be followed exactly because any closer and if you do get hit, it's going to cause a lot of damage. These guns have been specially modified for this exercise, but it's still a gun. So without further ado, DESIREE ARE YOU READY?" Jake shouted, giving the word _booming_ a whole new definition.

They could see Dessi wave her arm around her head, which could only be assumed as a yes, for suddenly, out of nowhere, Jake blew a hidden whistle and Desiree shot off.

It surprised Alex how fast the girl was running, but then the first gunshots went off and it made sense.

Jake, Terry and Dean were aiming almost directly at the sprinting girl, forcing her to move faster and faster to avoid being hit. Around halfway one of the bullets caught her on the leg, and she faltered a bit, but pushed off again, if possible, faster. If would've been amazing to watch had Alex not been in fear for her life. Then a traitorous voice in his head whispered that he would probably be next, and he felt a whole lot worse.

By the time the blonde haired girl made it safely back, excluding the bullet which hit her leg, Alex and the rest of K-unit were looking extremely faint. The girl limped slightly as she walked back to them, stretching out her muscles on the way. When she rejoined them, she was ready to collapse onto the oval, but Jake glared a warning at her and she remained up standing, alternating deep breathing with panting to catch her breath.

"Alright," Jake said cheerfully, "Good job Desiree!"

Her breathing was slowing, and so was her pulse, but she didn't think she could manage words just yet. So she settled with giving her field partner a grin, while simultaneously rubbing her left leg (the one which had been shot).

Snake, K-unit's medic, glanced at the bruise already starting to form in shock. Getting up, he kneeled next to the girl, dragging away her hand, and examined the dark bruise. Then he turned to glare at Jake.

"These things have been modified, and still this happens?" He asked, his voice slightly shaky.

"Again, these are still guns," Jake replied. Desiree rolled her eyes and limped away from Snake, evading his attempts to get her back, and dropped down next to the slightly cowering Alex.

"You guys don't train like that do you?" She asked cheerfully.

"How can you be so happy after that?" Alex asked, gesturing at her bruise.

"Adrenaline," she said happily.

"Rider, Daniels! One of you is going next! Wolf, Snake and Eagle. Since neither of you three are agents, we'll go easier on you," Jake said, grinning sadistically.

Eagle gulped.

"We still have to do it?" He said, his voice a lot higher than normal. That only widened Jake's grin. "Any volunteers?"

None of them were stupid enough to volunteer, so naturally Jake picked on the only other teenager in sight.

"Rider, get to the start! Make sure you stretch adequately!" Jake ordered.

Alex gulped as Dessi gave him an encouraging smile while the rest of K-unit's looks clearly said that they would be praying for his life. Jake, Terry and Dean were too busy reloading to even look up at him.

He debated the situation privately for a second before sighing and standing up. If he went, he would probably get hit, or not make it. If he didn't go, Jake would probably make him by force, and then he'd have some other punishment to worry about.

_Suicide either way_, he thought…

_Will Alex Rider survive? Or will he be shot so many times that he can hardly move? Find out next time…___

_Love Chariots99._


	7. Intelligence Surveillance

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 7**

_"Rider, get to the start! Make sure you stretch adequately!" Jake ordered._

_Alex gulped as Dessi gave him an encouraging smile while the rest of K-unit's looks clearly said that they would be praying for his life. Jake, Terry and Dean were too busy reloading to even look up at him._

_He debated the situation privately for a second before sighing and standing up. If he went, he would probably get hit, or not make it. If he didn't go, Jake would probably make him by force, and then he'd have some other punishment to worry about. _

_Suicide either way, he thought…_

Stretching by the starting line, Alex was slightly hyperventilating. Just a little.

It wasn't really his _thing_ to get shot at. Sure, it had happened before, and one time he'd even managed to almost get shot in the heart, but this was different; it made him feel like he was willingly going along with getting himself shot.

"Alex, are you ready?" Jake shouted. Gulping, Alex imitated Desiree and waved his arm around his head in a circle, crouching down and getting ready to run for his life.

Jake blew the whistle, and Alex shot off. Immediately they began firing at him. The knowledge that the bullets were made of rubber did nothing to calm him.

When the blind panic left slightly, he realised that they weren't aiming as close to him as they had been when Desiree had done her run. _They're going easy on me_, Alex thought, not sure whether to feel relieved or insulted. He compromised by putting an extra burst of speed, making sure to follow the hardly visible line which marked his path on the oval.

He finished his run with a couple of near misses. By the end, he had fully felt the effects of his adrenaline rush, and it was only that which got him to the end.

Almost ready to collapse, he dragged his feet back to the centre of the oval where the others waited. Puffing and panting like he'd never done before, Alex dropped to the ground, gazing up at the clear sky. Eventually Jake's words penetrated his haze of exhaustion.

"…to warm down Rider, but otherwise that was quite good," Jake finished, then turned his gaze to Ben, who gulped.

"Daniels, your turn. See if you can show up the teenagers," Jake grinned as Ben muttered darkly under his breath, and his former team mates turned their prayers towards him.

"Good job, Alex!" Desiree said cheerfully, looking down on him, "But you might want to get up. Jake's right about warming down, not just dropping down."

With a groan, the teenage spy reluctantly got up. If truth be told, he could have gladly lay down on the oval and slept, but he didn't really want sore muscles for whatever other torture the AIS decided to put him through.

_Why did I ever sign up for this?_ He thought as the whistle sounded and Dessi pushed his head down so he wouldn't be hit by stray bullets. _Why?_

They ended that drill at one, even though they hadn't been through everyone. K-unit went a lot slower than Jake had anticipated for, so they'd only managed to fit in Terry afterwards.

"Right ladies, and Dessi," Jake grinned, having used it twice in a day now, "Most of you need to work on your speed. Soldiers, I know you'd rather duck, hide and shoot back, but this is good for your stamina. Daniels, you're a grown man, act like one. Even Rider beat your time. Speaking of which, Rider, that was better than I anticipated. On Thursday, we'll be aiming closer to you to get your speed up."

Jake rattled off his observations, then turned on his unit.

"Phillips, that was a lot slower than last week. Tomorrow you're going to run twice around the grounds in the same time it takes the others to run once, and if that doesn't happen I'm going to want to know why.

"Swan, what the _hell_ did you call that? Because it certainly didn't look like running from where I was standing! You got hit by a bullet! Out on a mission, that would mean you wouldn't be able to keep running, which would mean certain death! You'll be joining Phillips tomorrow morning, and right now you're going to give me fifty push ups. Ben, your turn on now. Terry, shotgun. The rest of you, dismissed for lunch," Jake added.

Alex frowned. That hadn't been very fair on Desiree, and he was about to open his mouth to tell him so when Dessi shot him a warning look that clearly told him to shut his trap. So he turned and followed K-unit until they were out of sight of the others. Then he hid himself behind the closest building and waited for Dessi to finish.

After a while, he noticed that the building he was hiding behind was fairly new. Also that it was about three storeys tall. There were no entrances apart from the main door. The bullet-proof windows were fixed in place. Not only that, when he snuck around to the doors, he found that they could only be opened with a card. His curiosity peaked. What was in that building that made security so tight? He had to get in.

Hanging around the front of a building which you clearly do not belong in, while acting like you do, is quite hard. However, after all his sneaking around last year, Alex had gotten quite good at that. So he casually leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and giving a show of waiting for someone. A couple of people, he assumed them to be AIS agents, looked at him curiously when they passed. When Alex just nodded as casually as he could at them in greeting, they had shrugged and walked into the building.

It wasn't until a big group of arguing agents neared the building that Alex acted. They group appeared to be two units, arguing over who should be using the shooting range. They were too busy to notice the blonde haired teen who had snuck into their midst, and walked through the doors disguised as one of them.

_Really,_ Alex thought, moving away from the group silently, _They call themselves agents._

The inside of the building was extremely modern in decoration. Everything was a shade of white or grey, and everything matched yet clashed at the same time. The floor was tiled, probably so that, no matter how quiet you were, you could be heard.

Directly opposite the door were some stairs which obviously led to the second floor. There was a long corridor to the right, and another to the left, and also a lift. There was also a desk that looked remarkably like the ones used by receptionists; the end facing the doors was taller, so that the computer which was no doubt there was hidden from view. At the moment, the desk was unoccupied.

_The corridors probably just led to some offices,_ Alex thought, seeing the squabbling agents disappear down the left one, _So I'll go check out what's upstairs._

Walking casually, acting like he actually belonged in the building, Alex sauntered up the stairs. When he passed those who were going back down, he bent his head slightly to hide his face, though at the same time giving off the impression that he was nodding at the in greeting. This was just too easy.

The staircase came to a halt, and continued at the opposite end of the room. This level had highly polished wooden floorboards. Alex took that to mean that it was slightly more important. And with all the agents running around this level, whatever the security is for must be on the last level. So the teenage spy stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way across the room.

He was actually quite lucky in the sense that no AIS agents wore suits, or anything considered to be halfway formal. It was all casual, ready to train dress. That allowed Alex to blend in quite nicely. It probably helped too, that he didn't seem to look fifteen.

Alex made his way safely across the room, and trailed a couple of agents up the stairs.

It was when he almost reached the top step that he began to feel uneasy. Not because he was trespassing, but because he had a feeling that someone, or something, was watching him. Glancing around, he spotted some places which could well be hiding security cameras. But no, he didn't think it was the potential cameras that were causing the feeling.

Trying harder to make himself less visible than he was already aiming for, Alex made his way out onto the third and top floor. There was a main door, and a corridor just to the right. Alex made his way down the corridor. It was pretty wide as corridors go. There were numerous amounts of doors lining each wall. Many of the doors were opened, and when Alex peeked into one, he saw rows upon rows of shelves filled with files and boxes.

Walking past a closed door, the blonde teen took some time to read the inscription on the door: _**Maa-MI6**_. Alex stared at the door. Geez, MI6 would never leave him alone! First ruining his life last year, and now, appearing in _Australia_.

Glancing around to make sure no one paid him any attention, Alex pushed the unlocked door open and sneaked inside. Making sure to close the door behind him, he turned to find more rows of shelves crammed tightly together. Quickly the boy walked to the end of the room until he came to the last shelf. The entire thing had been dedicated to MI6. The top three levels were crammed full of shelves. The bottom four levels were packed with boxes. Fifty two boxes to be exact. Two for each letter of the alphabet.

Kneeling, he took out the top box of the "S" subdivision and looked inside. Neatly placed into three stackable trays were two dozen or so compact hard-drives. The kind that were about the size of an iPod touch, and yet could hold 300 gigabytes worth of data. Shifting through the hard-drives, one caught his eye. Lifting it out of the box, he examined the label in horror: _**SK Arms-Skeleton Key**_.

_They knew about Skeleton Key,_ Alex thought, shivering as unwanted memories flashed before his eyes. Before he could contemplate it further though, he heard the door to the room open. With the ease of practice, he quickly placed the hard-drive back into the box, then put the box back onto the shelf. Crouching low, he snuck around to the other side of the shelves, and crept back to the door.

The agent who had walked in didn't even notice that he wasn't the only one in the room. He'd also left the door wide open, making it easier for Alex to sneak out. Pausing, he breathed a quick sigh of relief before heading back to the staircase. One close call was one too many for him, and in a building full of spies, that could've been the last thing he ever did.

Just as he was about to turn for the staircase, a rather familiar head caught his eye. The man looked about thirty, maybe thirty-five. His dark brown hair was extremely short. Why he looked so familiar though, was beyond the teenage spy. Maybe he was at a past assignment?

Quickly he hurried down the stairs, just in case the man saw him. Wracking his brains as he tried to remember where he'd seen the man before, Alex didn't realise that he was being followed until someone grabbed his shoulder when he was halfway towards the stairs that would take the boy to freedom.

Alex spun around, and came face to face with one of the men in the canteen whom Anna had shouted at yesterday.

"You're not meant to be in here," the man snarled, "This is a top security building, and I doubt you have an ID. What are you doing here?"

"I just…came because Desiree sent me," Alex said, making it up on the spot, "She said something about some file or other, but I can't remember what she wanted, and I sort of got lost…"

The man glared at him, then said slowly, "You know what, kid? I don't believe you. That girl never sends messengers. Reckons no-one is trustworthy. So why are you really here?"

When Alex didn't answer, the man's face twisted into an ugly scowl. Grabbing his shoulder again, he steered Alex down the left hallway and into one of the rooms, knowing that the boy wouldn't try anything while he could attract the attention of others.

Kicking the door shut behind him, the man shoved Alex into the room.

"Come on, kid, why are you really here?" He asked again.

Alex kept his mouth shut, his brain working furiously at the chances of him getting past the man. They weren't looking too good.

"You here to spy on us or something?" Apparently, silence just made the man more angry, "Well we know how to deal with busy-bodies like you."

Reaching out, he was about to grab Alex when the boy twisted away. The man seemed to have expected the move though, and lunged for the kid with lightning speed. Alex was knocked into the wall, pinned against it by the taller agent.

"I've sparred with Swan, I know all the dirty moves you kids use to win," he whispered nastily into Alex's face. The boy could smell his lunch, and it wasn't a nice smell.

"You should really try some breath fresheners. They actually work," Alex offered, trying to distract the man. He was rewarded with a punch to his cheek. Alex bit back a groan. His cheek felt like it was on fire!

"I don't like smart-asses," he snarled, raising his hand again.

Suddenly the door was thrown open.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Desiree shouted from the door.

After she had finished her fifty push ups, Desiree headed off to lunch. She had a few questions that she wanted to ask Alex, mostly about what his life was like. Nothing too serious; she didn't want to be overheard, and in a room full of spies, that was sort of difficult.

When she arrived at the canteen however, it was to discover that K-unit had arrived without Rider. They were at lost about where the kid could be. They were all pretty sure that he'd left the oval with them though.

Instructing Anna to keep Alex in the canteen should he arrive, she and K-unit split up to find the boy. After retracing her steps back to the oval, she'd found a slight footprint in the sand next to the Intelligence Surveillance Building (ISB) that had been her first major clue. One of the footprints was slightly twisted, as if the walker had suddenly turned in mid-step.

_Oh, please don't tell me that Alex managed to get into the ISB,_ Dessi found herself thinking as she hurriedly got out her ID.

Letting herself into the building, she rushed over to the desk that Alex had earlier seen. It was still empty. Rolling her eyes at the timing some people had, she logged into the computer that was there. Pulling up footage from the security camera mounted just above the doors leading into the ISB, she fast rewound it until it was playing footage from approximately one that afternoon. Playing it on fast forward, she spotted the teen hanging casually outside the doors, then join the arguing units four and seven.

Desiree groaned, and logged out.

_Great_, she thought, _there's a teenage spy loose in the ISB, and I have to find him._

Knowing that no-one in their right minds would search the ground floor, she ran as fast as she could up the stairs, weaving and dodging through the confused agents. At least that was one good thing about being small.

Arriving on the second floor, she took off, deciding to search the right hallway first. Rushing through, occasionally opening a couple of doors and peeking in to find some very confused agents, she found that he wasn't in the right hallway.

That left either the left hallway, or upstairs.

Blanching slightly at the thought of having to search in all the rooms upstairs if Alex decided to look around, Desiree took off to the opposite hallway. She had just peeked into the second room when a strange thump echoed through the wall. Slamming the door shut, she rushed to the third room, throwing the door open to find Alex, pinned against the wall in a stare-down with Agent Harvey, who had raised his fist as if he were about to hit the boy.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

Harvey noticeably paled at the sight of Desiree, and immediately let Alex go, taking a couple of steps away from the boy.

"I found him in here, wondering around. He's spying on us, Agent Swan," Harvey said, his voice extremely close to a whine.

Desiree glared at him for a full ten seconds before saying, "It's his job to spy, just like it is yours." Her tone had quietened, though that seemed to make her more deadly, "And for your information, you _idiot_, I sent Alex in here to get a file. He was probably 'wondering around' because he got lost, right Alex?"

Alex stared at her for a second or two before breaking into a smile.

"That's what I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen," he said, enjoying the torture at Harvey's expense. After all, the man did just hit him.

Desiree's glare turned, if at all possible, colder and more deadly. At that moment, she could probably have given Wolf a run for his money.

"He told you, and yet you still found the need to interrogate him?"

"I thought…I was _sure_ he was lying! You've never sent out anyone in your place, and, and," Harvey stuttered, flailing under the gaze, his voice extremely high pitched, "I _swear_ I meant him no harm! I just…just…you know, security and all-"

"Get, out," Desiree said. Her voice was so quiet that it might have been lost in the noise from the hallway, but Harvey saw her lips move, squeaked slightly and rushed out the door, Dessi moving aside so he could pass.

Then she turned to Alex, and all her previous deadliness seemed to just melt away.

"Alex, we were all so worried!" She exclaimed, rushing forwards and grabbing his wrist before proceeding to drag him out of the room, "No-one had any idea where you were, and oh I'm so glad I found you!"

Trying not to protest to being dragged down the stairs, after all, the girl did just save her life, the two exited the building at top speed. Once outside, she turned to face him, and her eyes widened when she saw the bruise that was already forming on his cheek.

"I'm taking you down to the medical centre. Come on!" She said, before dragging him off again.

"Dessi, wait, stop dragging me!"

The girl stopped, and seemed to realise that she was still holding onto Alex's wrist. With a slightly sheepish grin, she dropped it, then motioned in the direction they should go.

"That was pretty impressive how you managed to get into the ISB," she said, quite cheerful now. Apparently, it wasn't only Anna with multi-personality syndrome.

"Er, how did you know?" Alex asked.

Desiree laughed. "For a spy, you didn't seem to notice any of the security cameras!" she exclaimed.

"I don't normally have to deal with them," Alex admitted.

"Really?" Dessi asked. She knew of course, from his file. But Alex didn't know that she had his file, so she played it innocent.

"Yea, usually its actual _people_ that I have to deal with."

"Huh. We have to deal with both," she provided.

"Right…"

"So, where did you learn to shoot so accurately? I know you said its classified, but just a hint? A small clue?" Desiree asked hopefully, glancing up at the boy.

"Well," how could he refuse a clue, "Um, it wasn't exactly, uh, legal…"

"Ah," Dessi's eyes lit up, "So not MI6?"

"Er, how did you jump to that conclusion?" Alex asked, slightly concerned about the recognition in her eyes.

"Because," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "The head of the SO, um… Blank? No Blunt! He follows every law to the dot. Well," she corrected herself, "Except the one that makes it illegal to employ minors." She grinned.

Alex had to smile back. _That was so true,_ he thought, not even bothering to wonder how she would know about Blunt. His thoughts strayed back to that room, filled with things about MI6 that he probably didn't ever want to know.

"Well, here we are!" Dessi exclaimed cheerfully. They had arrived on the edge of the grounds. Alex recognised the place; he had run around it just that morning.

Desiree was pointing at the entirely white, single storey building. Alex had wondered what it was when he'd passed it earlier. Now he knew.

"Okay, let's get your face checked up!"

_Love Chariots99 (yes, I still love you all)._


	8. Blindfolds and Instinctive Shooting

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_**Note:**__ Hey all. Just to smooth some worries; I will keep Desiree as far away from the Mary Sue territory as possible, since more than one of you are worried about that._

_Thanks to all my awesome reviewers! I love you all!_

**Chapter 8**

Lunch that afternoon was quite short. K-unit were extremely relieved to see Alex again, though the reunion was cut short when Jake yelled at them from his table to start eating. He didn't even bother asking where Alex had been, figuring he'd get it out of Dessi later.

Anna had reserved a couple of sandwiches specially for them, and had refused point blank to hand it over to the crowd of agents that had gathered around her, demanding them.

Jake had given the two teens ten minutes to eat, then to meet the others by the firing range. K-unit visibly perked up at the words "Firing range", though that wasn't really a huge surprise.

"Will you teach me how to shoot like you do?" Desiree asked ask they made their way towards the range.

"Um, I'm not sure I know how to teach," Alex replied, a little uncomfortable at having to relive the training he'd undergone at Malagosto. He'd yet to tell anyone about being educated by Scorpia, and hadn't really liked the understanding gleam that had gone through Desiree's eyes when he'd admitted his training hadn't exactly been legal.

"I'm sure you'll be fine!" Desiree smiled cheerfully. Honestly, if he didn't know that the girl was an orphaned spy who was constantly picked on by her field partner; Alex would've thought she was the luckiest girl in the world or something, judging by her constant and slightly irritating optimism.

Choosing not to justify that with a response, Alex decided to change the topic.

"So, um, the only real reason I came to Australia was to, well, talk to you," the boy mumbled, not really sure how to tell the girl that.

Dessi lit up even more, if that was at all possible. "Really? I was hoping that you'd come to Australia so I could talk to you too!" She exclaimed, a tad over-excited. Sometimes, the girl seriously reminded Alex of Eagle.

"Yea, but well, we haven't exactly had time thought. I mean, I know this is just the first day, but we can't talk about anything in case people eavesdrop…"Alex trailed away.

Desiree grinned up at him.

"Don't worry," she said as they closed in on the shooting range, "We get evenings off! We'll talk tonight!"

Alex nodded, giving the hyper girl a smile.

"Rider! Swan! Decided to take your time?" Jake said, though he was smiling slightly.

Dessi stuck her tongue out at him, then dragged Alex over to the small shed tucked just behind the range. Opening the door, she dragged the boy inside, to behold about four shelves of guns, all different, ranging from automatic pistols to snipers.

"These are practice guns," the girl explained, going to the left shelve to pick up two compact Berettas, and handing one to Alex who nodded his thanks, "Differing in brand, type and age. After all, if you're unarmed and all you can find is a really old crappy gun, it's still better than nothing, right?" She asked, reaching over to grab a handful of magazines from a sturdy-looking box and tossing them to Alex to hold.

"Uh, sure," Alex said, following the girl out. He didn't really feel like going into depth about the relentless training he'd received with Scorpia. After all, the organisation had decided that if their operatives could only get a hold of old, substandard weapons, then by God they had damn better be able to use them to carry out their tasks.

The shooting range was pretty big as they go. The entire opposite wall, where the targets were placed, was made from thick reinforced concrete so that any off-target bullets wouldn't fly into some unfortunate passer-by. There were enough targets, and space, for three or four units to shoot at a time, though units preferred to train by themselves so that they could practice running whilst shooting too.

K-unit were already there, shooting away. Eagle, Snake and Ben appeared to be having a shoot-off with Terry and Dean, while Wolf and Jake watched the progress of their respective teams, occasionally correcting a stance, or pointing out a tensed muscle that shouldn't have been tensed. Glancing at Eagle, Alex found an expression of pure glee on his face. Shaking his head slightly at the idiot who decided to give Eagle a gun, he went over to the spare space they had left for Dessi and Alex. There was enough space in between to separate the two groups. Apparently, Jake had known about the 'lesson' that Desiree would have.

Desiree dragged one of the heavy-looking tables that were stacked beside the shed to where she would be shooting. Glancing at her, Alex decided against offering help. He wasn't sure how easily her temper was triggered, and didn't really want to find out while she had a gun in her hand.

Firmly wedging the table between Alex and herself, Desiree then proceeded to disassemble her semi-automatic pistol, motioning for Alex to do the same. Dropping the handful of magazines she had given him onto the table, Alex quickly and expertly took his gun apart. Analysing the brand, he felt a sudden rush of awe.

"This is a Beretta 92SB!" He exclaimed. Scorpia had mentioned the famed gun in what they called 'history'. He knew that the guns had been specifically designed for the US Air Force. How the AIS managed to get a hold of these extremely rare and powerful pistols was beyond him.

Desiree was looking at him with a slightly strange look.

"You know about these?" She asked.

"Only that they're really rare and accurate," Alex replied, "I've never used one before though." As powerful as Scorpia had been, they'd never managed to get a hold of this particular brand.

"I would ask how you know, but I assume it's 'classified'," she guessed. Alex nodded, wishing that he'd kept his mouth shut.

"Well..." the girl trailed, and for a moment Alex was worried that she was going to pursue the topic. Then she seemed to decide against it and moved on, "It's really like any other Beretta, just that these only have a 13-round magazine capacity…"

She quickly reassembled the pistol so she could point out the parts to Alex, "They've also added a firing pin block," she said, pointing to the spring-like object located slightly above where the first bullet rests, before putting the top back on the pistol. It was used to stop any bullets from being fired if the trigger was accidently pulled.

"Uh, oh and they've changed the position of the magazine release catch," she added, pointing to the lower bottom of the trigger guard, "And that's about it," she finished, grabbing one of the magazines and loading her pistol.

"Any questions?" She added cheekily.

Alex stared at her for a bit, before a smile slowly formed on his face.

"Yea," he said, "You seem to be able to assemble that pistol pretty quickly. But have you ever tried doing that blindfolded?"

Desiree raised an eyebrow. "No. Have you?"

"Yep," the teenage boy's smile widened even more as the girl's eyes narrowed.

"Prove it," she challenged, not entirely sure if she believed him or not.

"You got a blind fold?"

Desiree looked around, then went back into the shed. She came out a moment later holding a large square piece of black cloth, which she then proceeded to fold into half three times so that it would cover only Alex's eyes.

"Will this do?" She asked, raising the folded cloth.

Alex nodded, and took the cloth, covering his eyes with it and tying it firmly behind his head. He wasn't entirely sure why he was showing off to the girl, but figured that since he had the skill, he might as well.

Making sure that he couldn't see anything at all, Alex reached forwards to where the table was, and felt around until he found where he'd placed the pieces of his gun. Unaware of Dessi's shocked gaze, he expertly began to fit the pieces together, working from the mental map he had built when he'd disassembled the gun earlier. Once he finished, he felt a hand place a magazine into his hand, which he then promptly thrust into the bottom of the grip.

He took off his blindfold with a flourish, to behold Desiree's look of total awe. She opened her mouth a couple of times before finally getting her words out, "You did that in less than a minute!"

Alex couldn't help but smirk at his triumph. It was a strange feeling, to be proud of a skill he'd convinced himself that he hated.

"How did you do that?" She asked, ejecting the magazine from the grip. Before she had a chance to disassemble her gun again, Alex reached out, grabbing her hand to stop her.

"Do you want me to teach you?" He asked quietly, though his smile was still in place. The girl nodded eagerly. "Okay, then take apart the Beretta slowly, and memorise how each piece feels, and where it goes. You've got to build a sort of…mental map, if you like. Do you get it?"

"I think so," Dessi answered, and Alex removed his hand. Slowly the blonde girl began to disassemble her gun, pausing for a moment after each piece was removed, closing her hand around the individual pieces to weigh them in her hand and to allow her muscles to remember the shape of each piece. Eventually the gun was disassembled.

Alex took the blindfold and walked across to Desiree's side of the table, where he promptly tied the cloth around her eyes.

"Okay, find the main piece, and then work from there," he said, stepping away from the girl in case he got hit by a stray piece.

Hesitantly she reached out, her fingers gently touching each of the carefully laid out pieces until she picked up the central one. Working extra slowly, she skimmed her fingers around, trying to find the right pieces. The mental map she had built was quite accurate, strengthened by the fact that she'd assembled and dismantled the Beretta about a million times since she was ten.

However, in saying that, it still took her close to ten minutes to finish assembling the gun.

"Good job!" Alex said, impressed. He couldn't help but think back to the first time he had to do that blind-folded; he'd dropped all the pieces, embarrassing himself to no end and providing extreme entertainment to the other students at Malagosto.

Taking off her blindfold, she grinned.

"Thanks! But how did you do it so fast?" She asked.

"Practice," Alex replied. _That and the fear of being killed by the instructors,_ he added silently.

"Must've taken a lot of practice," she said, a trace of envy in her voice.

"You have no idea," Alex muttered darkly.

"OI! YOU TWO!" Jake shouted, interrupting their conversation, "We're here to practice SHOOTING, not CHATTING!"

"I love you too!" Dessi called back. From the other side of the range, Eagle snorted and received a full-on glare from both Wolf and Jake.

"Anyways, moving on…" Dessi raised her loaded gun, holding it with both hands, cocked her head slightly, then rapidly emptied the 13 rounds in the gun. The target automatically flew over to the pair, and Alex saw that the result was the same as yesterday when she'd shot against him; several visible bullet holes crowded around the centre. With the exception of two rounds being completely off target.

"Damn it!" The girl cried, glaring at the off target holes.

"You just need to find the right balance between the gun and your body," Alex said.

"I just, what?" The girl gave Alex a blank look.

The blonde boy sighed, then thought back to what Gordon Ross, the technical specialist in charge of Scorpia's shooting training, had said about instinctive firing.

"You have to sort of get a feel for the gun, like its joined to you, like you're one," Alex said, "You need to trust and, um, believe that you can hit the target. That means no taking time to aim, which is what you're sort of doing before you start firing. Actually, you're sort of doing a bit of aiming and instinctive firing…So, um, try again, but kind of balance yourself so that it feels like the gun in only an extension of your arm. Oh, and do you have to shoot with both hands?"

"Dunno. That's how I was taught," she said.

"Well, I mean, it might be easier if you just shoot with one."

Dessi nodded and gripped the Beretta in her right hand. She closed her eyes, then bounced the pistol slowly in her hand, until she felt slightly like how Alex had described. Holding onto that feeling, she opened her eyes and stepped up to the target.

Now came the part she didn't quite get.

_How the hell were you supposed to shoot and not aim first?_ She thought, slightly uncertain. Glancing slightly at Alex, who had fixed his brown eyes firmly on her gun, Dessi looked back at her target. _Well, what if…?_

She stared at the target for a while, memorising the position she wanted to hit. Fixing that in her memory was a bit like fixing the individual shapes of the gun in her memory. Then she just raised her arm, pointed the gun, and shot.

Thirteen rounds later, the target flew over again. Alex leaned in as Dessi held her breath.

All thirteen holes were squished around the centre. Not only that, but they were squished so close together, that a hole had been carved clean in the centre of the target. Comparing the hole to her previous attempt, the girl noticed with delight at how much smaller it had become.

"Awesome!" She exclaimed, giving Alex a high five. Then she proceeded to jump for joy, dancing around the table on which Alex's gun still rested.

"What on _earth _are you doing?" Jake had come over to see why his field partner was making such a fool of herself. Still dancing around the table, Dessi just pointed to the two targets that the teens had been comparing a second ago.

"Well, you've improved," Jake commented, glancing at Alex and wondering how he'd managed to teach the girl anything, "But seriously Des, how do you know this isn't a fluke?"

The girl landed beside Jake with a soft thump. "Don't be a spoil sport!"

"I'm just saying, you shouldn't be too happy if this is a once only thing," her field partner said dryly, "Do it again a couple of times, and if you're still that good then, and only _then_, will I allow you do jump around like an idiot." With that he spun and walked back to the others. They could hear Wolf yelling at one of his soldiers about "incorrect stance".

"Come on," Alex said, getting Dessi's attention back on the targets, "You'd better shoot again before he comes back."

"You're not scared of him, are you?" Dessi teased, but nonetheless she reloaded her pistol again and faced off with the targets.

"I'm not scared of him for me," Alex muttered under his breath as he stood slightly behind the shooting girl, just in case he got hit by…something. "I'm scared of him for you."

_Next chapter, the two teenage spies will have a nice chat about their lives, and Desiree will reveal her past, which no-one knows a thing about…_

_Love Chariots99_


	9. The Story of Desiree's Life

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 9**

They stayed on the shooting range until about quarter to five in which time Desiree proved to herself and the rest of the group, over and over again, that with Alex's helping hand she had actually improved. By the end, Alex was able to again blindfold her, and the girl still managed to end with the same result. It would take a lot more practice until she reached Alex's advanced stage of only a single bullet hole, but her improvement in her accuracy made Alex strangely proud of himself. And of her, of course.

After that, another unit (unit eight from Dessi's enraged hiss) had come over to kick them off the range, claiming that they needed the most practice even though Jake had booked the range until dinner. They had to leave though, since the unit produced a statement from the Director telling unit one to stop hogging the range.

Getting kicked off didn't go down so well with Jake, so when he told the others they could have free time for the rest of the day, the first thing they did was rush to put as much distance between them and the enraged unit leader as possible. Even _Wolf_ was running for his life.

After getting away from the danger, the group had split up. Eagle wanted more sleep, and Snake said he had some book or other that he'd wanted to finish. So the two headed off back to the DB. Ben wanted to go exploring, so he dragged Wolf off with him, and that just left the two teens. They began to talk about, of all things, past training exercises they had been through.

Unfortunately for him, Alex had mentioned how at the SAS training camp there were obstacle courses and assault courses, and even a zip wire suspended over a huge drop to the man-made lake below, and how he'd seen none of those things at the AIS headquarters. At which point Desiree had promptly grabbed his arm and dragged him off.

Which was why he now found himself staring at the most amazingly _difficult_ assault course in the _history _of the earth.

The assault course began with a wall, about four and a half metres tall. Two bars jutted out the top, parallel with the ground. The wall had indents in it, but those indents were nowhere near deep enough to allow for a hand-hold. So it appeared to get over the wall, you needed to jump a distance of four and a half metres to reach the two bars then swing yourself over the top.

After the wall, there were two sets of, of all things, monkey bars, one on the left and the other on the right, attached straight to the edge of the wall. Though to be fair, the monkey bars were spaced out further than the regular ones at playgrounds. At the end of the two metre long monkey bars was a platform, high enough so that you could drop onto it without breaking anything. Then it appeared you had to jump off it onto the ground.

Alex gulped slightly. That was a drop of about three metres. Great.

Desiree was watching Alex with a slightly worried expression on her face.

"We can go now if you like," she said, seeing him gulp, though Alex didn't hear her.

The human brain was a complex thing, capable of processing several thoughts simultaneously. Though, when you're concentrating hard enough, or really stressed out about something, it's also capable of shutting out all other non-relevant things. And that's what Alex's brain was doing at that current moment. Shutting out Desiree's voice.

Desiree understood that, and she sighed keeping a careful eye on the boy as he paled ever so slightly. Following his line of sight, she found him staring at the rope swings, a series of ropes, where one end was attached to the rail above, and the other was loose, spaced evenly in a line. The concept was pretty similar to that of monkey bars; you had to swing yourself across. Only this was infinitely harder due to the fact that the ropes could and would move, and it was also harder to hold on seeing as the rope was vertical.

Dessi glanced back at Alex to see that he had moved his gaze on. Shaking her head slightly, she leaned back into a nearby tree, welcoming the shade from the glaring sun. This was going to be a long wait.

Eventually, about fifteen minutes later, Alex's gaze rested on the very last obstacle, and he came back to reality. Turning to Desiree, and widening his eyes slightly when he found her leaning against a tree, he asked,

"Did you just say something to me?"

The girl stared at him incredulously, then burst out into laughter. It was a while before she could calm herself down enough to reply, "The last time I talked to you was like twenty minutes ago," at which she promptly started laughing again.

Alex glared at her, then rolled his eyes. Throwing his nose into the air in an effort to imitate someone pompous, stalked off to the sound of her laughter.

It was _way_ past time for dinner.

"Okay, since the loser has decided to add a night 'jog' to our routine, I'd say we only have time for one of us to be interrogated," Desiree announced, walking into Alex's temporary room and plonking herself down on his bed. She looked really comfortable in the room, though that may have been due to the fact that her field partner usually lived in there.

Alex didn't even need to ask who the 'loser' was; he had just spent the better part of the walk back from dinner listening to Dessi complain about the supposed jog that Jake had imposed. The girl was sure that by 'jog', he had actually meant, 'flat out sprint'. And what made it even more unfair was that it was only for agents, so they had had to endure Eagle and Snake's taunts all the way back; Wolf saw himself above such taunting, somehow getting the belief that both Cub and Fox would kill him if he started, but there was still an annoying smirk etched on his face.

"Ladies first," Alex said closing and locking the door for privacy before settling down on the floor. Jake's old room had no table; he hadn't needed one, apparently. So there was nowhere else for Alex to sit. The room only had a bed and a wardrobe, half of which was filled with boxes that was obviously stuff belonging to Jake. All of the boxes had either been locked or firmly taped shut using gaffa tape.

"'Ladies first' as in I ask first, or 'ladies first' as in I answer first?"

"Uh, you answer first," Alex decided.

Desiree pouted for a second before nodding. _Oh well,_ she thought, _I'll interrogate him about where he learnt to shoot so well tomorrow._

"What do you want to know?" She asked, pulling off her shoes so she could sit cross-legged on the bed.

Alex shifted around on the floor, trying to get comfortable. In the end he gave up, and yanked out his bag so he could sit on something that wasn't made of hard, cold cement.

"Okay, since we're both, you know, spies, let's make a promise to tell the truth, not some made up story. No lies, no glossing over important details. No white lies either," he added, making sure there weren't any loopholes.

"What's a white lie?" Dessi asked curiously.

Alex stared at her. "Its…Oh, just tell the truth, agreed? And nothing leaves this room. Unless we give permission."

Desiree thought for a moment.

"Agreed," she said, then shuffled back on the bed so she could lean against the wall, "So, what do you want to know?"

"How come you don't have to go to school? Anna told me yesterday, and I thought it was law that everyone had to go to school." Alex decided to start off with an easier question, just to test if the girl would live up to her promise. After all, like he said before, they were spies. It was part of their jobs to lie.

"Well, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we don't exactly follow the law around here," Dessi began, though in a well disguised mocking tone.

Alex wriggled around a bit, getting comfortable on his bag, and ignoring the tone of her voice.

"So, the Director didn't exactly see the need to follow that particular law either. I get home schooled though," which explained the desk in Dessi's room, "But not to a great extent. I asked Jacob about it once, but he asked me why on earth I wanted to learn how to write essays when it's practicing my speed that'll save me in the field. So I pretty much gave that up."

"But what if you had to, I don't know, infiltrate a school? You wouldn't exactly fit in if you didn't understand what the teacher was talking about," Alex pointed out.

Dessi smirked. "Alex, I'm in unit one. We don't infiltrate schools, we infiltrate gangs, spy rings, drug chains, once even an international mafia. But not schools."

"Right. Got it," he said, deciding to overlook the slight boast that she'd slipped in, "But don't you, I don't know, want to learn like everyone else our age? To go to school and, and be normal?"

It appeared that he'd hit a nerve.

Suddenly, Desiree's smirk fell off her face. In fact, so did the mask that Alex hadn't even known she had on. Suddenly, the grief and pain that she'd experienced in her short life shone through, and right in front of him, the fifteen year old girl seemed to age.

"I want that more than anything else in the world, Alex," she whispered staring at him with haunted eyes, "But I can't. I'll never be able to. Not after everything I've been through. Not after everything I've done…"

Alex stared back at her, and a silence settled in the room. In that moment, they understood each other better than anyone had ever done before.

Desiree broke the silence without any prompting from Alex.

"I know you're an orphan, Alex," she said, her voice hoarse and laced with misery, "And I know you know I am too. But at least your parents didn't leave you willingly. At least they'd…loved you." Her voice broke slightly at the last word, and her eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

Alex sat still. He knew that the girl was confiding in him something that she'd probably never told anyone before. He knew that if he interrupted, she'd just close herself up again. And he knew that that was not healthy.

"I never knew my biological parents," she said after a slight pause. Her voice was slightly choked as she bit back her tears, "I never knew them. I was abandoned as a baby on the emergency lane of Kwinana Freeway," she'd named one of the major freeways in Perth, "When someone found me and took me to an orphanage.

"When I was old enough to understand that, I thought, maybe my parents got killed in a car crash, and they'd pushed me to safety before they died. But I, I searched it up. I looked through every file at the orphanage, and searched the internet for hours," she gave a short laugh, though it came out choked, "But apparently there had been no accidents at all the day I was born.

"I snuck into the records office one day, and found my file, and I read the first ever medical check-up I'd been given. Every kid who turned up at the orphanage got an immediate check-up. Apparently my umbilical cord was still attached when I was found! The doctor said that it looked like my mother had given birth to me on the freeway, wrapped me in a towel, then left me there and drove, drove off."

Desiree choked, and suddenly the tears started pouring down her face. She closed her eyes and wiped them away. Slightly unsure of what to do, having never been in this situation before, ever, Alex got up off his bag and onto the bed, hesitantly pulling the silently crying girl into his arms. The girl tensed slightly at the contact, and for a moment Alex was afraid she would hit him. Then she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder, though her arms stayed limp by her side.

"I stayed in that orphanage 'till I was about six," she continued in a whispered voice that shook slightly. "Then they put me into the foster-care system. I'd been through three families in the space of two months, and apparently annoyed the hell out of them, before I landed with the Swans.

"I took my last name from them. They were my favourite, and when they were around it felt like I had a real family. With them, I understood how it felt to be loved, and cared about, to know that if something bad happens there's always someone to turn to. The orphanage was good as far as they go, but no-one ever paid me any attention unless it was to tell me off or, or to tell me to shut up. They didn't really care that much about us, and the rest of the kids thought I was weird.

"Ann and Red had been married for a while, but they never had any kids. They said they couldn't, and at the time I, I thought that one of them was infertile," Dessi's laugh came out slightly strangled.

"Alright, I sort of lied before. I've been to school. They sent me to one, see, 'coz they didn't have time to home school me or anything. But I didn't fit in. I've never fitted in anywhere, so I didn't see how school could be different. And at that age, kids can be quite mean, you know? It's at that age potential bullies begin practising their skills.

" I got pulled out of school after a couple of months, 'coz I kicked up a huge fuss, and threw one of the kids' who had bullied me's bicycle through the principal's office. It shattered his window and killed the bike, though I suppose I should be thankful that the principal wasn't in his office at the time. Then Ann and Red just let the AIS teach me, though at the time I didn't know about the AIS. I thought I was getting my own private tutor.

"A couple of months after my eighth birthday, I found out the truth. See, often Ann and Red would leave and not come back for a while. They said it was business, but they never let me go with them. They knew Jake's parents though, so I usually stayed around his house when they leave. But then, one day they left, and they never came b-back."

Desiree drew a stuttering breath, trying to stop the silent flow of tears. She felt Alex tighten his arms around her, and somehow drew strength from that. Steeling herself, she carried on talking.

"They weren't there for my eighth birthday. I thought maybe they'd be back late, maybe they had a surprise planned, but then the Director showed up at Jake's house and h-he told me the t-truth about it all. Ann and Red were agents. Spies. Their entire unit was killed on their mission. Blown up by someone who made them watch each other die. M-murdered."

At the last word, she broke down completely, muffling her sobs in Alex's shirt. She couldn't stop herself from crying. It had been too long, she'd kept that a secret for too long. Every ounce of grief she'd ever contained within herself suddenly let loose, and she cried into the shoulder of the only person in the world who knew what it felt like, who'd gone through what she had.

Alex just held the girl silently as she cried. He wasn't even aware of the wetness where his shirt soaked up her tears. _Let it out, Dessi,_ he thought, rubbing the girl on the back, _Just, let it out._ It took a while for her to calm down. When she did, she just leaned silently against him, slightly worn out from the emotional strain.

Alex didn't want to break the silence, but he knew that there was more of the story to tell. Gently, he asked, "Then what happened?"

The girl gave a slightly watery chuckle, and shifted her head so she could wipe her tears without dislodging his arms.

"Then well, the AIS became my legal guardians. I moved into the room opposite this one permanently, and they started training me. And now…I've done things, Alex. Things I'll never forget. I-I've killed people with my bare hands, and I'm prepared to bet that I'll have to do it again, just to save my life.

"Sometimes I wonder, you know, what would've happened if a different person had found me on the freeway. If they hadn't taken me to that orphanage. If no-one bothered to help me at all…"

"Dessi, if no-one had bothered to help you, you'd have died," Alex said firmly.

Desiree shifted, sitting upright so she could stare deep into Alex's eyes. So that he knew she meant what she was about to say.

"I would've rather died than live the life I do now," she whispered, both her voice and her eyes showing that she was dead serious.

"Really? Would you?" Alex murmured.

Memories flashed, causing her to lower her lashes. Images ran in front of Desiree's crystal blue eyes. She re-lived the pain she'd been in the first time Jake had broken her arm in practise, the deep agonising throb caused by the bullet grazing her thigh. She saw each and every person she'd ever shot, each and every life she'd ended with a single deadly bullet. She saw the fear in those she'd been forced to interrogate, and re-lived the agony of her own tortures. She gazed again into those deep-set hazel-green eyes full of fear and pain, the moment before she reached out and broke the man's neck. It didn't matter to her that these people were all criminals. It didn't matter that if they'd been allowed to live, they would've probably killed half the nation. It didn't matter, not to her.

To her, every time she'd harmed and killed, was another time she'd ripped a family apart, another time she'd taken away a life, just because she was better trained than her opponents.

Forcing herself, she lifted her gaze to look back into Alex's intense brown eyes.

"Yes."

The two stared at each other. A depressing silence hung in the air. For a moment, Alex saw himself reflected in the girl's life. They'd been through so much, their lives so similar. They'd both lost their parents, though in her case two sets of parents. They'd both had their lives taken over by the respective intelligence agencies. They'd both killed and suffered self-inflicted tortures for doing that, even though it had been to save their lives.

The silence was shattered by, of all people, Jake.

"ALEX! RIDER! We do NOT lock doors around here UNLESS we are SLEEPING! OPEN THE DOOR!" He shouted, pounding on the door.

Alex and Desiree jumped. Looking at each other in shock, the boy got off the bed and went over to unlock and open the door.

Jake opened his mouth, about to yell at Alex, when he noticed Desiree sitting on the bed behind him.

"Des? What are you doing in here?" He asked, for a moment slightly stunned. Then realisation hit. "DESIREE SWAN! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT BEING IN A BOY'S ROOM WITH THE DOOR LOCKED? GET BACK TO YOUR ROOM!" He roared.

The girl jumped out of the bed, hurriedly wiping away the last of her tears so that Jake wouldn't notice and ask questions. Not that he would've noticed in the first place, but better safe than sorry.

Jake turned and left, though not before shouting, "RIDER, SWAN, PHILLIPS, FINLEY,_DANIELS_! EVENING JOG, NOW! DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU!"

Desiree hurried past Alex, though before leaving completely, she turned to the teen and gave him a tentative smile.

"Thanks Alex."


	10. Busted Knees and Assasins

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_This chapter is dedicated to Izzy-I.R.T. whose reviews make up almost thirty percent of all my reviews. Thanks to everyone else who reviewed my story too! I've personally replied to you, unless you reviewed anonymously and didn't leave a way for me to contact you._

**Chapter 10!**

Alex Rider, teenage spy for the MI6, sat down in the canteen for breakfast with a barely muffled groan of pain. His muscles were extremely sore, after yesterday's Bullet Runs, then the evening sprint-for-you-life that Jake called a jog. Now he was in pain. He couldn't remember the last time he was in so much pain. Muscles he hadn't even known _existed_ were screaming. And to make matters worse, the forecast for that day was thirty-nine degrees Celsius. Great.

Then Desiree Swan dropped into the seat next to him. And if he was in pain, she was in complete agony. After last night's sprint, coupled with the morning's double-run-in-the-time-of-one punishment she and Terry had had to do, it took all of Dessi's self-control not to hit Jake in the face for revenge. Or to throw up. Whichever one came first.

"You okay?" Alex asked, wincing as he twisted in his chair to look at her and aggravating another muscle.

The girl forced a smile, however tired it may have been. "Yea, I've felt worse."

"Dessi, you look like _hell_!" Anna exclaimed, hurrying over to their table with some pre-buttered toast and two glasses of milk.

"Are you okay?" She asked, setting down the food in front of Alex and leaning over to feel the girl's forehead, "You feel fine, but your face is so flushed! Here, I'll get you some water," and so saying, the motherly figure rushed away, coming back a minute later with a glass filled to the brim.

"Drink," she ordered, setting the glass firmly in front of Dessi, and the girl had no choice but to obey, though she did it with a grimace.

"Stop coddling her, Anna," Jake ordered from his table.

"I wouldn't need to if you didn't half _kill_ her every morning," Anna retorted, giving a Jake a glare that the tired Wolf would've been proud of.

"Please don't start, you two," Desiree groaned, finishing the water, "I can't deal with anything else right now."

"Don't worry. Just have some food, and you'll feel better. Here," Anna said, shoving a piece of toast into the girl's hands. "Eat."

"Anna, we have _training_ next, and if Jake kicks me in the stomach again, I'm going to vomit all this up," she said, although she started eating anyway.

"Well the, Jake had better NOT kick you in the stomach then, had he?" Anna said, rounding on the unit leader.

"I wouldn't have hit you if you had kept your guard up," he said.

"And I would've kept my guard up if you didn't set two entire _units_ on me at the _same freakin' time!_" Dessi retorted.

Anna froze.

"You made her fight _eight people by herself_?" She exclaimed, giving the leader a glare. And boy, if looks could kill…

"Technically, it was only seven," Jake said, though he was quailed slightly under the intense look Anna was giving him.

"ONLY SEVEN? HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF _ONLY_ SEVEN PEOPLE WERE ATTACKING YOU…"

So all in all, it was a pretty normal breakfast.

After the seemingly daily routine of Anna's explosion, the group headed for the AIS gym, while K-unit left for the shooting range again, to train under the direction of Wolf. Ben had decided to join his old team, rather than risk another morning with Jake. Apparently, the unanimous decision was that Jake was a whole lot worse than Wolf.

The location of the AIS gym was actually just a few metres away from the DB. The outside of the building, like so many others at the AIS, was made from bricks in a deep red colour favoured by many buildings in Australia. The inside had highly polished (and highly scratched) wooden floorboards. Though it was a relief to be out of the sun, what really made Alex's day was the discovery that the gym actually had four reverse-cycle air cons installed.

The gym itself was huge, the size of four basketball courts arranged in a two by two formation. Although it had the appearance of a normal school gym, it was missing some pretty essential equipment. Like basketball hoops. Or the lines drawn on the floor to show different areas of the court.

Unit one weren't the only ones in the gym though. It looked like they would be sharing it with about five other units. _Oh well, _Alex thought_, there's plenty of space_. And indeed there was. The units could spread out as far as they liked, but the gym was so huge there was never a chance that another unit's space would be imposed upon.

Upon entering, Jake, Terry and Dean headed over to what looked like a storage room situated on the far left wall of the gym. Desiree led Alex over to a spare space in the right corner, where she promptly sat down on the floor and started stretching her legs.

"I suggest you do the same," she said. She had stretched her right leg flat out in front of her, and had leaned over so her nose was touching her knee. Alex winced just watching her. He would never be that flexible, not in a million years of training.

"Dessi," he started hesitantly, while sitting on the floor, "Are we going to talk about what happened last night?"

The girl straightened up and stared at him.

"Not here," she replied, before leaning over to her left leg and resting her nose on her knee, "I don't want to take the chance of being overheard. Besides, there's not much left to tell, unless you want to know about all my missi-"

She broke off suddenly when she heard the approaching footsteps of the rest of her unit. Alex turned around, wincing as his neck screamed in protest.

Jake, Terry and Dean carried between them a rather long rolled up object that appeared to be a mat of some kind. Dumping it on the ground, the three then proceeded to unroll it, forcing Alex and Desiree to scramble out of the way.

"Just squish us while you're at it, why don't you," Dessi grumbled, massaging her back. Jake glanced at her with a slightly raised eyebrow, and the girl promptly shut her mouth.

They spent the morning going through complicated drills to keep up their speed and coordination. Then they went through a highly complex pattern, slowing it down at first so Alex could get the hang of it, then speeding it up until the kicks, blocks and punches present in the pattern appeared nothing but a blur. A very vicious blur at that.

It was quite obvious that the unit were at a high level of karate and God knows what else. But Alex had a strange, uncomfortable feeling at the bottom of his stomach. It wasn't until two hours or so later, when they'd been given two minutes for a breather that he realised what it was. They hadn't asked, ever, if he knew karate. He'd never told them he had a black belt. And yet they'd just shown him the world's most complicated set of drills and patterns, then expected him to keep up. Almost as if they knew about him…

Alex's thoughts drifted back to that building, with the rooms full of files. What had Dessi called that building? The ISB. He thought to the room he went into. Full of files and compact hard drives on MI6. _What if one of those files was about me, _Alex thought, concerned, o_r worse, what if one of those rooms had my file? Did they know about my past?_

Before he could think anymore on it, Jake called them back to training. He paired them up, Alex with Dessi and Terry with Dean. Alex couldn't help but notice the sliver of relief in her eyes when the girl found out she wouldn't be facing Jake.

The unit leader then got them to work. They would be sparring each other, and Jake had moved the teens to the opposite side of Terry and Dean to minimize the chances of anyone getting hurt. He himself would be darting from group to group, pointing out mistakes and jabbing at openings if he found one.

Alex eyed Dessi, and noticed that she was doing the same. Suddenly, she wasn't the girl who'd confided in him about her rather distressing past, and who'd cried out her grief on Alex's shoulder. Suddenly, Alex found himself facing a nameless opponent. _More Scorpia training_, he thought dryly as he launched the first attack, _Never identify with your opponent, otherwise you let down your guard._

They had three bouts. All three ended in a draw, because both of them kept going and refused to give up. Jake ended up 'supervising' all three of their fights, because he "didn't want an injured agent who wouldn't be able to go on the mission". It was he who decided that the three bouts were all draws.

When Jake announced that it was time for lunch, it couldn't have been more welcomed. Alex ached all over; Dessi somehow managed to keep darting under his guard, and no matter how fast he was he couldn't match the girl's speed. She may have been shorter, thinner and less trained, but he could learn a thing or two from her. It irritated him to no end, how the girl managed to get around him, strike him with a few well delivered (and extremely painful) blows, then dart away before he could react.

The only thing that made him feel slightly better was when he'd managed to grab her by her pony tail, and use his weight to his advantage as he threw it all behind a lower aimed round-house kick, straight to the outside of her knee. Though it made him feel slightly sadistic, he couldn't suppress the slight feeling of triumph as he watched Desiree limp away to lunch in front of him.

"Swan! What's wrong with your leg?" Jake asked, grabbing Dessi's wrist and forcing her to stop.

Dessi scowled. "Oh like you didn't see what happened."

Jake glared at her until the girl lowered her eyes, then bent down next to her and began prodding her injured leg. When he reached the knee, she gave an involuntary gasp and tried to hobble out of his reach, only for her leg to give way. She would've fallen had Alex not caught her at the last minute.

"T-thanks," she said, leaning on the boy to right herself. Alex's feeling of triumph diminished when he saw that she had trouble putting any weight on her leg at all. Dessi sensed his feeling of discomfort, and gave him a small smile to show that there were no hard feelings.

"It was just an accident," she said, "I mean, I hit you plenty of times too. Most of them are going to bruise an awful lot."

"Enough," Jake said, standing up again, "I think it's a mild sprain. When you were hit, your leg was probably planted firmly in the ground. Your knee moved inward as a result, and that probably sprained medial collateral ligament. Here, I'll take you down to the medical centre, and get them to give you a check-up. And probably an ice-pack for the bruising. Rider, go get yourself some lunch. The rest of the day you can have off. We're still doing an evening jog, though."

Alex looked on worriedly as Jake helped his field partner hobble away, though he had to admit that for all the man picked on and threatened the girl, he really did care about her. He probably didn't know how to express his concern too well though.

With a sigh, Alex headed off to the canteen with a mental note _not _to tell Anna that he was the one who busted Dessi's knee.

On his way, he passed an agent heading in the same direction as Jake and Dessi, and nodded at him in greeting. The agent didn't even notice him, but suddenly Alex stopped and stared. The agent just moved on until he was out of sight and did not once look at Alex, but Alex had seen his all too familiar face. It was the same person he'd recognised at the ISB yesterday, the man with extremely short dark brown hair.

_Why did he look so God-damned familiar?_

"So, Cub. How's your training going?" Eagle asked as the five made their way back to the DB from their lunch. Jake and Desiree hadn't returned yet, presumably still at the med centre.

"It's alright. Jake's a lot harsher than Wolf was though," Alex grinned, and everyone turned to the scowling Wolf.

"What? I can be nice if I want to."

"Yeah, of course Wolf! And Eagle can act like a mature adult instead of an idiot if he wants to," Ben grinned back. Eagle darted over and punched the MI6 agent in the arm.

"Hey!" Ben shouted as Eagle took off, "What was that for?"

"Insulting my honour!"

"What honour?"

Alex rolled his eyes as Ben took off after the fleeing SAS soldier, and found himself walking next to Snake, who was staring at him with a strange expression on his face.

"What?"

"Have you," Snake hesitated, then looked around to make sure no-one was paying them any attention and dropped his voice, "Have you reported yet?"

Alex stared at him. Before they'd left England, Smithers had given each of them a way of communicating directly to MI6, so they could report to Mr Blunt. The head of the SO had been very clear that anything they found out about AIS or Desiree Swan must be reported immediately. He also expected reports at least every other day.

"No," he whispered back, trying not to move his lips in case any of the agents knew how to read lips. He honestly wouldn't put it past them, "Have you?"

"Yea, last night when you guys were doing your evening 'jog'," Snaked grinned.

"I'll do it now. Jake gave me the rest of the day off."

"HEY! Rider! Hold up!"

Alex and Snake turned around to see Terry and Dean running towards them. Dean gave Snake a curt nod to acknowledge his existence, through Terry just pretended that the SAS soldier was invisible.

"We're going down to the assault course," Terry said, "You want to join us? Of course, you'd need a partner, but one of us could substitute. It's good practise for agility and stuff."

"Uh, Jake said I could have the rest of the day off," Alex said cautiously. He wasn't really looking forward to the day he had to face the assault course. He definitely would not be going because he himself volunteered to do so.

"Yea, we know," Dean replied, "We were just down to see Dessi at the med centre and Jake told us. You busted her knee up good, you know?"

"Uh, thanks?" Alex said, unsure of the man's tone. It was strangely proud, almost congratulatory.

Dean chuckled slightly at that.

"No, that wasn't really what I meant," he said, "What I meant was that, it's been a long time since Dessi got hurt in the gym. I mean, from one on one, not like group on her," he added, "So, I thought you'd like to know that the last person to have the, uh, honour, of hurting her was Jake. He broke her arm once about two years ago. I don't think he's ever been forgiven…So anyway, what do you say about the assault course?"

"Um, no thanks. I'd rather use this time to rest, if you catch my drift," Alex said.

"Okay, then," Terry smiled, "See you 'round!"

And with that the two agents sprinted off again. A loud huff close to Alex's ear made him whip his head around in surprise. He'd completely forgotten Snake was still there, and the look on the man's face said that he wasn't very happy about being ignored by the three of them.

"Come on, Cub, let's go."

* * *

Alex lay down on his bed with a content sigh. Then he picked himself off it with an annoyed groan. Going over to his bag, he rummaged inside for the small felt pouch that had come with Smithers' communication device.

Finding it at the bottom, Alex pulled it out and opened the pouch. Inside was what appeared to be a digital photo frame keyring, about the size of an iPhone. If someone had found it and turned it on, the thing would have just started flashing photos of Alex's skiing trip.

Turning the keyring around, he carefully opened the battery compartment, took out what appeared to be the battery which was connected to the main frame with a couple of wires. However, this was no battery.

There was a small switch in the side, which Alex pulled after much difficulty. The top half of the 'battery' came off, to reveal a full keyboard. By pulling the switch, he'd also activated the communication section of the device.

The frame now showed an empty page, with a single "send" button at the end. It had also become touch-screen sensitive, so Alex gently tapped the screen and began to type.

_Not much to report except that there's some guy here that I seem to recognise but have no idea of who he actually is. Any chance you could look him up? He's about thirty, maybe thirty-five, with really short hair that's a really dark brown._

_There's a building here called the ISB. Not sure what it stands for yet, but pretty sure the 'S' is for surveillance. How do I know? I went in. They have rooms full of files, all alphabetically ordered. It might interest you guys to know that they've got an entire shelf dedicated to MI6. They have all these compact hard drives, and one of them says 'Skeleton Key'. Oh, and there was something about 'SK Arms' on there too._

Now Alex paused. What Dessi had told him about her past last night he'd sworn not to tell anyone else. He didn't really want to break that promise, so he slightly compromised by telling them something trivial that would be of no use whatsoever.

_The girl, Desiree Swan, she's only been to school for a couple of months before she got pulled out for throwing a bike through the principal's office. Don't know where to get more info._

Well, that wouldn't tell them too much about her, but at least it made him look like he was following his orders. Gently he tapped the "send" button, and watched as the page dissolved into the skiing photos again. He had been reassured that the sending signal would be scrambled to different locations, the information bounced so that no-one would ever trace it back to Alex. He hoped that the technology worked.

A few minutes later, one of the photos flashed red. Tapping the photo, Alex found himself reading a reply signed by Jones.

_Alex. First of all, well done on finding the ISB. There's a rumour going around agencies that the AIS has such a place where they store intelligence on other agencies, as well as data on their own targets. I don't know if we should be happy that the rumour is true._

_Secondly, I'm sending you a couple of photos of all the people we've got in our databank who is around thirty and has dark brown hair. Some photos were taken from satellites such as the SatInt and blown up, so the faces may not be too clear. They are also not in colour, so we sent them anyway just in case. If you see the man, let us know the picture title, and we'll send you back an ID._

_Finally, try going into the girl's room if you have to. She lives there permanently so there has to be some information you can gather. Keep working on it, Alex, and try to find out what their mission is about._

_Jones._

A few seconds after, the photos began to pop up onto the screen. Scrolling through, he found that there were at least a hundred, if not more. _Damn, _he thought, _why didn't I give a more precise description?_

After studying and disregarding the coloured photos, he moved onto the satellite ones.

_Too tall, too short, face not long enough_, he found himself thinking as he flicked through each photo. Each photo was wrong in some way, from not having the same facial features, to different bone structures. Disregarding the length of hair in each photo, after all it could have been cut, he continued to look through the black and white pictures, getting more irritated by the second.

_Too thin, too gangly, too long-a nose. _Alex had only seen the man's face for a few brief seconds, but he had trained his mind to memorise details.

_Too chubby, definitely not this guy, too many scars, too-wait. THAT'S HIM!_

Quickly, Alex checked the photo's ID; '_MV 302'._ Pulling up a new blank typing page, Alex quickly wrote to MI6, telling them he'd found the man and typing out carefully his photo ID.

It seemed like a million years, when it was closer to about seven minutes, later that the screen flashed red again. Eagerly Alex pulled up the message and read it.

_Alex, are you sure? We trust you, but are you really sure it is him that you see? Like, absolutely sure, not maybe sure?_

Scowling, Alex sent Jones a blistering reply about how they themselves had made sure he was able to memorise the exact features of peoples' faces. He didn't have to wait long for the reply.

_Alex, that photo was taken last year by the SatInt (Satellite Intelligence), from an island. Like each photo in our data base, that one's ID is based upon the position of where the photo was taken. The 'MV' part on this particular photo's ID stands for Malagosto, Venice._

_Alex, that man was training with you as an assassin for Scorpia…_

* * *

_Oooh, suspense! Sorry for the cliff hanger guys, but it seemed pretty decent time to put one in._

_Keep Reading! Love Chariots99_


	11. Revelations

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 11**

Mrs Jones walked into the office of her boss without bothering to knock. Mr Blunt looked the same as ever. Clean, and slightly creepy. His face was currently buried in some report or other, and he didn't even bother looking up when the door opened. Only one person in the entire building had the permission to walk in unannounced.

"There's a Scorpia assassin on the loose in Australia," she said, placing the folder that was in her hand on top of the million other folders already on Blunt's desk, "Alex's just identified him."

Blunt looked up and took the folder that Jones had just placed down. Opening it, he found the report Alex had just given Jones, and her replies. There was even a page dedicated to the photos Jones had sent Alex. The photo which Alex said was the familiar stranger at the AIS took up one entire page.

"He's sure?" Blunt asked.

"Beyond a doubt," Jones replied, though she knew that Blunt was already reading the blistering reply Alex had given when she'd asked if he was sure.

"Is he after Alex?"

Mrs Jones paused for a moment. The truthful answer was no; after all, none of their sources had mentioned anything about stalking the boy, or revenge against him for all the plans of theirs which he managed to singlehandedly ruin. But there was always the chance that their sources hadn't gotten it right, or the order was given by someone higher up.

So the deputy of the SO replied with, "We don't think so; but there's no other explanation for the man's appearance."

Mr Blunt contemplated the man's blurry photo for a while before asking, "Who is he?"

"His name is Ivan Vladimirovich Stalin. Russian born, though moved when he was young to Israel. He joined the Israeli army, before being handed a dishonourable discharge for deserting in the face of an actual enemy. Scorpia picked him up; he was one of the nine men already training on Malagosto when Alex arrived."

"Why in the world would he be allowed onto AIS headquarters?" Blunt asked, though he didn't really expect an answer, and Mrs Jones kept her mouth shut.

Blunt sighed.

"Tell Alex to keep an eye on him. But not to get caught. It's a good thing he hasn't been recognised yet, but the whole world knows of Scorpia's hatred towards Alex Rider. No doubt he'll just get himself killed…"Mr Blunt trailed off, frowning slightly.

In his highly analytical head, he was turning over several possibilities. The first was that he wanted the boy to stay with the AIS, to get more information about the girl, Desiree Swan. But there was a new mission that popped up the other day, and it looked like Alex may be the only one who could deal with it. Even if he refused, Blunt didn't really want his best agent being killed overseas. The boy could still be of some use, and the head of the SO hoped that if he hung around the girl long enough, she would be able to help him realise that he was born to be an intelligence agent.

_If Alex stays in Australia, there's more chance that he'll be recognised and killed. But then there's more chance that he'll find out something useful about the girl,_ Blunt thought, _If he came back, he'll be safer and we'll be able to send him out on missions, though there is the chance that he might refuse. But if he came back, he might miss something useful about the girl._

"Give Alex orders to remain as undetected as possible. The boy is a magnet for trouble, and more often than not he goes seeking it himself. Warn him against snooping around; we don't want him getting caught. If he must snoop, tell him to do so _carefully_. Make sure he gets more info on Swan; that girl's like a ghost, and we need as much on her as we can get."

Blunt hesitated, then gave the rest of his instructions, "And tell him that if he suspects trouble, even if he _feels_ like there's going to be trouble, tell him to hit the emergency alert. I don't want our best field agent killed, however much I despise the boy. Send orders to all units we have in Perth, to be on alert. They must be ready to move the _minute_ I tell them to."

Sunday couldn't come fast enough for Alex. After getting the message from MI6 to stay out of trouble, the boy had refrained from sneaking around, entering locked buildings, or going to places he wasn't supposed to. He made sure he never let Desiree out of his sight, figuring that if the Scorpia assassin wanted to kill him, it would be harder if he had to take on both of them at the same time. The girl didn't question his insistence at following her everywhere, though more than once he caught her giving him a strange look when she thought he wasn't watching.

At least the girl's knee had mended enough for her to be able to run without pain. To test whether she was fit to go back into the intense training, Jake had taken her through the assault course. It took half a minute longer than usual for them to complete it, but the unit leader was happy enough about the girl's health to let her back into training. Starting with a Bullet Run.

Alex sighed, rolling over in bed, and trying to get more sleep. After a week in Australia, his body had become adjusted to waking up at 5:35 every morning to go for a run. Jake had been kind enough to allow him and the rest of K-unit to sleep in that Sunday, though the rest of unit one hadn't been so lucky.

It didn't really help that Jake had woken all of DB with his roar for Terry, Dean and Desiree to get up that morning, and now the teenage spy was having a lot of trouble getting back to sleep. _It's only six in the morning,_ he mentally groaned.

Giving up on sleep altogether, he went over to the pathetic excuse for a window, and drew back the curtains to let in the sun that was already rising. Then he sat on his bed, trying to think of something to do for the next two hours until breakfast came.

He wondered when Jake would give his unit some privacy. He'd yet to be 'interrogated' by Dessi; after finding her in his room, Jake had made sure the girl was kept so busy that all she wanted to do when she got back to the DB was sleep. It was annoying for Alex; he'd had more questions for the girl that he hadn't got to ask, and for the past few days she'd been so tired she'd all but ignored anything he said, preferring to zone out and have a few minutes peace.

Alex sighed and tried to change the topic in his mind. His thoughts settled again on the Scorpia assassin.

Alex couldn't help but wonder how the man managed to get into AIS in the first place. Sure, Scorpia were good, but the boy didn't think they were _that_ good. Or was he underestimating them like so many people underestimated him?

Alex frowned. He'd seen the man twice now. The first time was in the ISB. He'd thought that the man was just another agent, but the matter had been pushed from his mind when the agent from unit five had caught him. If it hadn't been for Desiree, Alex had no doubt that the agent would've given him more than the already fading bruise on his cheek.

The second time, though…

The Scorpia assassin had just walked right past him, didn't even _glance_ at him. The man looked like he was really preoccupied, but Alex was sure that if he was Scorpia's intended target, he'd already be dead.

Alex scratched his head. It just didn't add up. If he _was_ the target, maybe the man was playing a mind game on him, to make him _think_ he wasn't the target. Or maybe it's just a complete coincidence, and there was someone else in the AIS that was the actual target.

But who else would they deal with? His thoughts turned to the _direction_ that the assassin had hurried in. Suddenly it all fitted into place. _Of course!_

The assassin hadn't been after him! He'd been after Jake! Someone so high up in the rankings must've caught the attention of Scorpia. Actually, now that he thought about it, hadn't Dessi mentioned that they'd done some infiltrating in the past?

"_But what if you had to, I don't know, infiltrate a school? You wouldn't exactly fit in if you didn't understand what the teacher was talking about," Alex pointed out._

_Dessi smirked. "Alex, I'm in unit one. We don't infiltrate schools, we infiltrate gangs, spy rings, drug chains, once even an international mafia. But not schools."_

International mafia…that could just be a classified way of saying 'international criminal organisation known as Scorpia'.

If they managed to infiltrate Scorpia, and Jake got caught or something, wouldn't that be enough reason for Scorpia to send someone to finish off the unit leader? After all, Scorpia doesn't forget, Scorpia doesn't forgive. They'd almost shot him through the heart because he refused to die and took down one of their operations with him.

Getting off his bed, he took out the digital frame disguised as a communications device, and wrote a letter to MI6, telling them about his theory. He wasn't sure why he was doing it, but they'd spend the better part of the last few days spamming his device with letters demanding information he didn't have.

He got an answer back rather quickly, and was forced to wonder if Blunt or Jones actually ever slept. After all, England was a few hours behind Perth, and it was still…7:30 here.

_Alex, even if your theory proved correct, we still need you to be careful. I'm checking with our sources now to see if Scorpia have had any infiltrations in the past. Rest assured that we'll keep you in the loop, but stay out of trouble in case you're wrong. It might be a new trick they've learnt, and we don't want you to be killed._

_By the way, Jack says to eat your vegies and Tom says to "check for textas; you don't know what the bullies might put in your drawings". I hope you understand your friend better than we did._

_Jones._

Alex stared at the reply. What on earth was Tom talking about? Then suddenly, he remembered with a laugh. Their code! He'd completely forgotten about it! Now seemed like the perfect time to use it, letting MI6 pass along their messages while making them think that the two boys were crazy. Quickly he typed out a reply.

_I'm behaving as well as I can in this cage the AIS calls their headquarters._

_Tell Jack that it's not a buffet here, and tell Tom not to worry about me having crayons, the bullies don't have anything drawing to do._

Trying and failing to picture the deputy of the Special Operation's reaction to his message, Alex pressed "send", then got off his bed to take a shower and get changed. He really wanted to get into the bathroom first before unit one came back from their morning run; afterwards, the line would be way too long, and Alex didn't want to miss breakfast.

He got out of the shower in time to hear unit one running up the stairs, Jake still bellowing orders from below.

_Poor people,_ Alex thought, listening to their schedule for the day, _still have to train on Sunday. _He was just getting changed when someone banged loudly on the bathroom door.

"Alex? Are you almost done?" Desiree's tired voice called.

Alex yanked open the door just as the girl was about to knock again. She gave him a small smile before pushing past. Alex reached out to grab her wrist, forcing her around to face him.

"Dessi, there's something I need to talk to you about," he said, keeping his voice low. He didn't want to be overheard.

The girl raised an eyebrow, glanced over Alex's shoulder, and shoved him into the bathroom, locking the door in the process. Then she turned, staring at him rather curiously.

"When you told me you've infiltrated an international mafia, what did you mean?"

Desiree stared at Alex for a full minute. Of all the subjects he wanted to broach, it was this?

"I mean, we infiltrated an international mafia," she said slowly, not entirely sure why he was asking. Didn't the statement explain it all? Or was Alex a lot slower than she, or his file, gave him credit for.

"Which mafia?" The teen's voice came out slightly annoyed.

Dessi froze.

"That's classified" she informed him.

"Okay. Fine," Alex said, and walked past the girl, unlocking the door to move out. Dessi raised an eyebrow at him giving up so easily, but let it pass as Alex opened the door. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Was it Scorpia?" He asked straight out. The girl stared at him startled, then her eyes went blank. In the split second before they zoned out, though, Alex saw a sliver of recognition. He almost grinned at the tactic. Even the best spies revealed things when they were caught off guard.

"Classified," she said, deadpan, before slamming the door in his face. Then she let out a slightly annoyed groan. From the way she reacted, she may as well have just said, 'yes, we were sent to infiltrate Scorpia earlier this year'. God, why did she let the boy catch her off guard?

Then more questions came into her mind. Why did he want to know? How did he link mafia with Scorpia? Damn, she hated mysteries.

Then she smiled slightly. What did she think her job was?


	12. The End of Their Friendship

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 12**

It had been a couple of hours after lunch, and Alex found himself, for the first time in a week, getting extremely bored. Jake had given him and K-unit the day off, and though at first Alex hadn't complained, now he almost wanted to run over to the assault course and demand to join in.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_ He thought, grinning at his own folly. He wasn't really into suicide, and even the _thought_ of volunteering to go over the assault course was too close to the general area of suicides for comfort.

The teenage spy sighed. God he was bored.

His eyes scanned the room, and seemed to settle on a couple of innocent looking pick-like objects he'd brought with him from England, just in case he'd needed to unlock locks that didn't have keys. Or in case he lost his.

An idea slowly formed in the spy's head. Desiree was out on the assault course, and wouldn't be back until at _least _five. That gave him…two or so hours. Plenty of time. And even better, K-unit had left for the Bullet Run oval. Alex doubted that they were actually doing the bullet runs, probably just using the huge oval for training. Ben had once again joined his former team, after complaining that he was being ignored by unit one and by K-unit.

_Excellent,_ Alex thought, getting off his bed and grabbing the picks, _no witnesses to speak of._

He opened his door and peeked outside, making sure it was safe. Then, leaving his door unlocked and opened in case he needed to make a quick escape, Alex crossed the corridor and knelt by Dessi's room. The lock was pretty standard as far as they went, though perhaps slightly more complex. He'd been fiddling around for about five minutes when he heard the soft _click_. Trying the handle, he was pleased when the door swung open.

Tucking the picks into his pocket, Alex Rider entered the permanent room of Desiree Swan. The walls were bare, painted a dull cream colour that failed to bring life into the room. The bed was neatly made, though where she had found the time to do that, Alex had no clue. The covers of the bed were a matching set, a deep lifeless chocolate brown. There was a table and a wardrobe, but other than that the room was bare.

Alex had been taught, though by whom he wasn't too sure, that knowing what a person's bedroom looked like was the equivalent of knowing the actual person. It was apparently human psychology to decorate their own bedroom, if no other part of the house, with their own personalities. Even strewn clothes or messy tables could tell you about a person. So what did Dessi's room tell Alex about her?

Alex looked around, taking in the unusual neatness, the feeling of bareness even though the room was actually quite small and cramped. There were no photos, no drawings, nothing to tell anyone anything about the girl who had lived in that room since she was eight. Opening the wardrobe, Alex saw the six articles of clothing which the girl possessed were neatly hung up. There were two shirts; short sleeved and long sleeved, and a singlet. Then there were three pairs of pants, varying from extremely short to full length. Two empty clothes hangers no doubt would have held the clothes the girl was currently wearing.

Alex flipped the collar inside out to see the brand of clothing, and wasn't particularly surprised when he found that, instead of proclaiming some popular brand, the label read "AIS issued". Apparently, the AIS chose and bought the girl her clothes. He checked all the other shirts and the pants, and they all had the same label. Suddenly, Alex became extremely happy that Jack let him buy his own clothes, because although he'd been told over and over how his clothes didn't suit him whatsoever, it was still a statement about his personality, his life. This girl had had all of that taken away from her, just with the simple act of being handed AIS issued clothing.

He looked down and saw that the girl possessed two pairs of shoes. The pair she was currently wearing, and a pair of what appeared to be standard military boots. No sandals, no thongs, no formal shoes or those high-heeled ones that were currently favoured by girls his age. Nothing to suggest that the girl ever had any fun in her life. Slightly depressed, Alex shut the wardrobe doors.

He turned to the well-made bed. Dessi had folded her pyjamas neatly, and had placed them on top of her pillow. The label on the pyjamas also read "AIS issued". The colours of the PJs were a slightly gloomy grey. No hint of personality at all.

Carefully, the boy reached under the pillow. His hand met what felt like a rather hard piece of paper. Taking it out, he found himself looking at a slightly tattered and worn photo. There were three people in it; a younger Desiree, a man and a woman. Alex was pretty sure that he was looking at the late Red and Ann Swan. The three of them were happy, with the seven year old girl sitting proudly on her foster-father's shoulders while her foster-mother reached up to hold the girl with a steadying hand. Alex smiled, feeling tears forming slightly in his eyes.

Hiding the photo under her pillow was such a childish instinct that Alex couldn't help but be glad the AIS hadn't yet robbed her of everything. Replacing the photo, the boy turned to survey the depressing room again. So what did it tell him about Dessi?

The answer came to his head almost immediately. Though he tried to suppress the thought, a traitorous voice whispered "_She's killed herself on the inside". _Alex shivered slightly, but he knew it was true. The distinct lack of personality, the dull colours of the walls and the bed covers, the fact that the only photo of herself in the entire room was found under her pillow, it all pointed to that single fact. She'd already stopped living on the inside. It was only a matter for her physical body to stop functioning. Then she'd be well and truly dead.

Alex almost left the room then, if he hadn't remembered the table.

The table had books piled around three of its sides, forming a sort of cubby. It was a subconscious method to protect oneself, and Alex knew it well. The books looked to be pretty standard; a couple of maths, some on science (including a really thick one entitled _Foundations of Chemistry_) and a few English books. Currently, it appeared the girl was reading _Frankenstein_; well there was a bookmark in the book so Alex assumed she was reading it. But looking at the book closely, the boy found a layer of dust settling on the book.

In the centre of the desk was a plain folder, rather like the ones he had seen the other day in the ISB. Curious, he picked it up, and opened it to see what was inside.

Alex froze. Staring back at him was a passport sized photo of himself. Beneath it was what appeared to be a brief summary of his life:

_Alex Rider, current age 15._

_Father: John Rider. MI6 agent as well as Scorpia assassin. Worked as double agent under orders of MI6 to infiltrate Scorpia. Died in plane bombing organised by Scorpia as revenge. Current status: deceased._

_Mother: Helen Rider, born Helen Beckett. Nurse specialising in radiology. Died in plane bombing organised by Scorpia as revenge against her husband. Current status: deceased._

_Only known relative: Ian Rider. Became Alex's guardian after the deaths of his parents. MI6 agent. Shot by Scorpia assassin Yassen Gregorovich. Current status: deceased._

_Godfather: Anthony Sean Howell, more commonly Ash. Ex-MI6 agent, ASIS agent. Known connections within Scorpia. Killed by Agent Ben Daniels, MI6. Current status: deceased._

_Alex Rider is known to be fluent in French, Spanish and German. He appears to understand basic Italian, and possibly Japanese. Alex is athletically talented, being skilled in scuba diving, mountain climbing, hiking, rifle shooting, surfing, snowboarding, tennis, soccer, basketball, BASE jumping, kayaking and perhaps other unknown skills. He has obtained a black belt in Karate, and has on many occasions successfully defended himself from other more skilled fighters._

Alex stared at the brief summary. They'd managed to fit fifteen years of his existence onto half a page. Flipping through, he found the subsequent pages detailed his missions. Flipping through the pages, he saw words jump out at him, words like "Stormbreaker" and "Point Blanc Academy". He reached the final few pages with a start. They were his reports, the ones that MI6 had forced him to write. The ones that explained each detail of his missions from his point of view.

Slowly, he read through the all too familiar sentences. He relieved each experience, each painful memory. He was so lost in his past, he never heard the rushing noise of people racing up the stairs, or the receding footsteps of someone going back down. He never heard the soft steps approach the door a couple of moments later.

"Alex?"

* * *

Dessi groaned. It was half past four, and she was starving. Not to mention soaked through with sweat and covered in a thick layer of dirt, sand and God knows what else. Her knee throbbed slightly, but it was closed to being perfectly mended.

Looking around at her unit, the spy saw that she wasn't the only one totally worn out. Jake, her field and thus assault course partner, looked even worse than she did. Although to be fair, there was more of him to cover in dirt. Terry and Dean looked about the same, caked in grime and sweat, their tiredness evident in their dull eyes.

The unit had been going through the assault course non-stop since lunch. Though it was good training, she couldn't help but wonder what the AIS would do if their entire unit dropped dead from fatigue. Or heat exhaustion. Whichever one came first.

Jake, too tired and out of breath to speak, signalled for them to leave and have a break before dinner. Gladly, the three trudged back to the DB while Jake made his way towards his temporary residence. The walk was completed in silence, the three of them too tired to even _contemplate_ attempting the art of talking. Or the attempting the skill of thinking up something to talk about.

They entered the DB to find it eerily silent. Apparently K-unit had not yet arrived back. Knowing that this meant two free showers, one upstairs and one downstairs, Dean and Terry rushed up to their rooms, before Terry came back down to use the shower. And all that was done before Desiree could muster up the energy to _climb_ up the stairs. When she finally made it, she found that the door to her room was opened.

Frowning slightly, she approached her room. She was pretty certain she had locked it that morning, and patted her pocket to check that the key was there. She entered the doorway to find someone already in her room.

"Alex?"

Startled, Alex jerked and spun to face the door, before finding himself staring at a sweat-soaked, dirty and tired Desiree Swan.

The girl was obviously surprised to find him in her room, the shock showing in her eyes. Then he saw her eyes dart down to the folder that was still in his hand, and her eyes widened even further. Now the shock was evident on her entire face.

"What? How-"

"What are you doing with my file?" Alex asked. His voice came out colder than he expected. A feeling of numbness spread through his body, as he gazed at the girl who'd secretly known each and every detail of his life, "How did you get hold of it? Did MI6 give it to you?"

"What? No!" Desiree said frantically, stepping into her room and shutting the door behind her. She didn't want Terry or Dean to intrude, in case one of them finished their showers early. This was private.

"So how did you get this?"

"We-we, uh," for a moment, the girl wanted to say 'classified', but she wasn't sure if the boy's temper could take that.

"Well?" Alex prompted after a few seconds of silence.

Desiree swallowed and licked her lips.

"We do a-a yearly 'swipe' I suppose, of every agencies' database. I, well your file was picked up, and Jake gave it to me to read, and I _swear_ I didn't request it specifically or anything! I, it…" the girl trailed off, unsure how to proceed. She'd never been in this situation before. Granted, there had been no file of her which anyone could just read. AIS had seen to that.

Alex raised an eyebrow. His insides were still extremely cold. And _numb_. He controlled himself as best as he could, knowing that with this feeling inside he could probably kill someone and not bat an eyelid.

"You decided to read my file. Regardless of who gave it to you, you still chose to read it. Dessi," he said, and felt a strange sense of satisfaction when the girl flinched, "I thought we were alike. I thought you'd understand me, seeing as you've been through all the same things. Clearly I was wrong." His voice was strangely calm, and he could see that the girl was slightly confused at why he hadn't yet exploded.

"I admit, I was curious about your life," he continued, "Curious about how you ended up here. But even if I had access to your file, I'd never have read it. I've learnt long ago that someone's past is their own story and not anyone else's. Did it ever occur to you I might not want you to know some things? Did you ever stop to think that by reading this, you'd basically stripped me of the only thing I had left that was unique to me?"

The silence stretched on, long and uncomfortable. Alex stared impassively as he watched the Australian girl squirm. She knew she'd gone too far when she read his file; they both knew.

"Alex, I'm so sorry," she started, but never got the chance to finish.

"OH, YOU'RE SORRY?" Somehow her voice had acted like a trigger, and Alex's anger crashed forwards, "WHY ARE YOU SORRY? YOU DIDN'T SEEM TO HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH THIS BEFORE I FOUND THE FILE!"

Desiree's head jerked as if she'd been hit. She'd never heard the boy yell before, and it was a lot worse than anything Jake ever did, because she could hear the frustration and the disappointment behind the anger. And that only hurt her more.

"YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT MAYBE THERE'S A REASON I DON'T LIKE PEOPLE READING MY FILE? YOU NEVER THOUGHT THAT THERE'S A REASON I WANTED MI6 TO DESTROY IT?" He was completely unaware that the girl had no idea, he just kept ranting on, "SCORPIA TOOK AWAY MY PARENTS, MI6 TOOK AWAY MY LIFE! THE ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT ARE MY MEMORIES, AND NOW THANKS TO YOU I DON'T HAVE THAT EITHER!"

Breathing heavily, Alex threw the file down on the floor of the overly neat and impersonal room, and marched towards the door, shoving the girl away from it with all his strength. A feeling of sadistic pleasure rose in him when he heard her hit her bed frame and fall to the floor with a whimper.

Slamming the door behind him, Alex marched across the corridor to his temporary room, locked the door behind him, and threw himself onto the bed. Suddenly he wished he'd never agreed to come to Australia. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to be back home with Jack, and perhaps Tom. To be without a care in the world. To get away from this 'officially non-existent' place, with its deadly drills and unjust punishments, this hell that held no sympathy for the faint hearted.

But Alex had learnt the hard way that he could never have what he wanted in life. He'd just yet to accept that fact.

There was a small, timid knock on his door.

"Alex?" Dessi asked hesitantly, "Can I talk to you?"

"No. Go away. Get out of my life."

Outside, Desiree blinked away tears, rushing from the door to Alex's room and back to her own. She had a feeling her back would be bruised from where she'd hit the bed, and her knee was starting to throb more painfully now. No doubt she'd landed on it wrong.

But as Dessi sat on the floor of her room, wrapping her arms tightly around the legs that were drawn to her chest, leaning heavily against her bed frame, she found that she didn't care about the bruises or the sprained knee.

She had just single-handedly destroyed her relationship with the only person in the entire _world_ who had even an inkling of what it felt like to be her.

She had just lost the only person who'd willingly become her friend not out of pity, like Anna had done, nor out of a need to because they worked together, like the rest of her unit, but because he'd truly wanted to, because he was exactly like her.

Now she'd lost that.

And it was all her fault.

* * *

_Wow, the death of their friendship!_


	13. Aftermath

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_THANKYOU TO ALL MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS! I LOVE YOU ALL!_

**Chapter 13**

"Alex, can we come in?"

"No."

"Cub, open the door."

"No."

"Come on, Cub, you haven't been out of there in _three days_! Just, unlock the door, please?"

"No."

There was a slight pause as K-unit decided their next plan of attack. Then-

"CUB! Open the door THIS INSTANT!" That would be Wolf. And he was giving an order, "Or I will be forced to KICK IT DOWN!" And a threat.

Alex got off his bed with a sigh, went over to the door and opened it. He found himself face to face with Wolf, and though a moment ago he'd just shouted at Alex, the man actually had a rather concerned look on his face. That is, until he realised that Alex had opened the door and was staring at him. Whereby he immediately turned his facial expression into one of his famous scowls.

"Alex, can we come in?" Ben asked. The teenage spy glared at them all, then turned and went back to his bed. K-unit looked at each other and decided that, since he hadn't slammed the door in their faces, they were welcomed into his temporary room.

Eagle walked in first, and sat down next to Alex.

"Hey Cub, how're you doing?" He asked, for once without a trace of teasing or humour in his voice. In fact, there seemed to be genuine concern.

"How do you think I'm doing?" Alex scowled.

It had been three days since he'd gone into Desiree's room. Three days since he found out that she knew _everything_ about him. The only thing that he was grateful for was the fact that he hadn't been required to write a report about what happened with Scorpia when his school went to Venice, since that hadn't been a mission. That was perhaps the worst thing that anyone could ever know about him, though that relief was small compared to the overall annoyance, disappointment, betrayal and God knows whatever else he felt right now.

"Um, you've sure settled in," Snake joked, looking around the room.

Having been in a bad mood for the past three days, Alex had thrown all his belongings at least once against the walls, except for the photo frame that was his only way of communicating with the outside world. Or at least with MI6.

He'd informed them of how AIS possessed his file. Of how they did some yearly 'swipe' to get it off their data base. He'd told them everything he'd seen and heard about while at AIS, from describing each person in unit one, to explaining in detail each and every training exercise that he'd seen and been put through.

The only thing he didn't tell them was Desiree's past. He wasn't sinking to her level, and although he held a mean and long grudge, he still believed that her life story was only for her to tell. MI6 apparently _didn't_ believe in that, but after a few days they'd stopped spamming his communications device for which he was extremely grateful. Maybe Jack had told them to get off his back or something…

"So Cub," Wolf said, "Are you coming to training this afternoon?"

"No."

Wolf rolled his eyes. "Are you going to do _anything_ until we leave?"

"No."

"How is it you're getting food and water?" Ben asked.

"De-someone leaves it by the door," Alex said. He'd almost said her name, and he wasn't sure if he'd recovered enough to be able to say it without breaking the first thing in his sight. He wasn't about to find out in front of four SAS trained men, even _if_ one of them had diverted to MI6.

"Alex," Ben paused, then continued when his ex-team mates looked at him encouragingly, "Jones told us about what happened between you and her." Ben carefully refrained from saying her name. He'd noticed the way the boy changed words halfway through, and figured out that he'd given the name a taboo, "We're all on your side, Alex. She had no right to that information, even if she wasn't the one to order it.

"But we're worried about you. You haven't been out for _three days_. You've just sat in here, brooding, and by the looks of it, throwing your things around. You haven't had any exercise, nothing to take your mind off your situation. Alex, we sort of understand the betrayal you're going through, and probably the fact that you never want to see De-um, the girl again. But as a, as a favour to us, will you _please_ just come down to lunch in an hour. We'll shield you from her if we have to, but you need to get back out in the, extremely hot, sun."

Alex glared at the man for a few seconds.

"No."

"Come one Cub," Eagle begged.

"No."

"Please?"

"Let me think," Alex said in a mocking tone, then reverted back to his previous deadpanned, "No. Now go away and annoy someone else."

Dejectedly, K-unit filed out the door.

* * *

"Dessi? Hello, earth to Swan!" Jake roughly shook his field partner, causing her to start slightly. The two of them were at the shooting range, after Terry and Dean had been called away to the Director's office because of some prank or other they'd pulled yesterday.

"Wha-what?" Dessi turned to Jake.

"You keep zoning out. What is going on? You're not normally like this," Jake said.

Desiree gave him a small smile.

"I guess I'm just tired." Well, that was sort of true. She hadn't gotten much sleep in the past three or so days. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the angered look on Alex's face, and heard his words replayed over and over in her mind.

"No, something's wrong. Usually when you're tired, you sway a lot, not zone out. You've been zoning out on and off for the past three days," Jake grabbed the girl's pistol, and placed both of theirs onto the table. Then he steered her by her shoulders towards the side of the shed, where they could sit in the shade.

"Talk," Jake commanded after forcing the girl to sit.

"It's really nothing, Jake," Dessi sighed, though she could already feel the beginnings of tears well up in her eyes. It had happened every time she thought about the boy, and their now ex-friendship.

"Desiree Swan, I've known you since you were seven," Jake said in his do-not-mess-with-me-or-you-will-not-wake-up-tomorrow tone, "And I know that whatever is wrong, it's a _lot_ more than nothing. Now talk."

"Jake-"

"That wasn't a suggestion, Swan! Talk!"

Dessi sighed. She knew Jake well enough to know that when he wanted to know something, he wouldn't rest until he found out. That was what made him such a good spy, and why he was leader of unit one.

Slowly, haltingly, she told him about Sunday. How she'd come back from practice to find Alex in her room. How he'd found the folder, _his_ folder. How he'd just turned so _cold_. Then how he exploded. The girl couldn't stop the tears that escaped her blue eyes.

Jake stared at her numbly as she stuttered her way through the argument the two had. Or rather, the one sided shouting. He'd never been faced with a crying girl before, let alone a crying _Dessi._ In all the years he'd known her, the girl had been, well, sort of like the pillar of strength. Sure she could get annoying at times, with her over-enthusiastic nature, and a temper that, well, no-one really wanted to trigger. But the girl never cried. She didn't even cry when the director told her that her foster parents were dead. Or if she did, she never let him see. But now…

Now she's completely broken. And as much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, seeing her so hurt really hurt him.

"An-and now h-he won't even _t-talk_ to m-me," Dessi finished, hiccupping slightly through her tears, "And he w-wouldn't even _l-listen _to m-my ap-ol-logy."

Jake gazed at her, dumfounded. He was stuck. They had never received training on how to deal with _crying girls_! What the heck was he supposed to do?

Gingerly he extended an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Well, that was what his mum used to do when he was upset about something. He almost sighed with relief when the girl turned and wrapped her arms tightly around him and began crying into his shirt. _Okay, _he thought, pleased he'd done something right,_ what now?_

Tentatively, he patted her back with both his hands.

"There, there," he murmured, though he wasn't very sure if Desiree could hear him over her sobs, "Calm down. It's going to be alright."

_God this is so awkward,_ Jake thought, trying to comfort his field partner. He kept muttering soothing words, or at least what _he_ perceived to be soothing words. Why couldn't she be an ordinary girl? Then she'd have actual friends who _knew_ how to deal with this stuff.

After a while, the girl's sobs subsided. For a while they both just enjoyed the peace. Then she lifted her head, and glared at Jake. Tears still fell from her eyes, but at least she'd stopped crying.

"Why on _earth_ are you hugging me?" She asked. Even through her tears, her glare was not one to be messed around with.

Jake stared at her. Then he blinked.

"You're hugging me too," he pointed out dryly.

Dessi stared at her arms, then suddenly shifted to she was out of his reach.

"Eww! I _hugged_ you!" She exclaimed, shivering in disgust.

Jake grinned. Suddenly he was glad that Dessi was no ordinary girl.

"You know you liked it," he taunted. Dessi laughed and got to her feet, trying to edge away from her field partner.

"As if," she retorted. Jake sprang to his feet with his arms outstretched, and made a show of running towards her. Shrieking slightly, the girl rushed away, and Jake followed. Eventually he caught her when she almost tripped over a stick.

"Jake, let me go!" She cried, as he grabbed her in a bear hug and spun her around, "I'm getting dizzy! Don't make me puke on you!"

That got his attention, and Jake let her go, only to have to reach out and grab her arm as she tottered unsteadily and almost fell.

"You alright?" He asked, pulling her upright.

"Yeah," she smiled at him, "Thanks." They both knew that the 'thanks' wasn't for helping her stay upright. Jake nodded in reply.

Then he frowned.

"Dessi…does Alex have the key to your room?" He asked.

"No. There's only one set, not counting the Director's," she replied, looking at him curiously.

Terry and Dean chose that moment to reappear, saving Jake from having to answer Dessi's unspoken question.

"Urgh, do you know what that man is making us do?" Terry asked.

"Technically, making _you _do," Dean corrected, then grinned rather wolfishly at Jake and Dessi, "I got out of it."

"Uh-huh. Stop boasting," Terry scowled, then turned back to his punishment, "I have to scrub the floors of the DB! Upstairs _and _downstairs! Why couldn't the man be _civil_ and just give me laps or something?"

Dessi hid a smile. "It's your own fault you decided to pour that, God knows what it was, all over Agent Harvey's head. While he was wearing a suit."

"And if you want, I'll give you laps," Jake offered with a smirk.

"Uh, as tempting as that offer sounds, I'm good."

"Okay, Terry, Dean, Dessi. Go back to shooting. I have some business I have to sort out. I'll be back in time for lunch though."

"What ya doing?" Terry asked, picking up Jake's discarded gun.

"Stuff. See you all later!" And with that Jake ran off in the general direction of the DB.

Dean, Terry and Dessi stared at each other for a few seconds. When he took that tone with them, someone was in trouble. And that someone may not make it out alive.

"Do you reckon one of us should go after him?" Dean asked.

He and Dessi turned their eyes to Terry, who glared back at them.

"What? Why me?"

"I did it last time," Dessi informed him, picking up her gun.

"And I did it the two times before that. So it's your turn," Dean added.

Terry rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll go keep our brave leader out of trouble. Save me some lunch," he added, and rushed off.

_Jesus, Jake can run fast_, Terry thought seeing that Jake was already well out of his sight. The man sighed, but didn't bother to pick up his pace.

Suddenly, he jerked to a stop, millimetres before colliding with another agent.

"Uh, sorry, wasn't watching where I was going," Terry said bashfully, scratching his head.

The dark-brown haired man smiled.

"Me neither," he said and ran off. Terry stared at his retreating back.

_Since when did we have an agent with a Russian accent? _He wondered.

Jake ran over to the DB, mulling things over in his head.

Alex had been in Desiree's room. He didn't have her key, which means he must've picked the lock. He was snooping around, inside her room, when he found that file. And now he was acting like it was all her fault.

"I am going to _kill_ that boy," he muttered, not caring that a dark-haired agent who was walking towards the shooting range shot him a weird look.

Jake thundered up the stairs, and towards his usual room. Reaching out for the handle, he discovered that the door was locked.

"UNLOCK YOUR ROOM RIDER!" Jake shouted.

"Go away!" Came the almost immediate reply.

Jake gritted his teeth. The kid had some _nerve,_ refusing to obey his command.

"RIDER, I WILL GIVE YOU TO THE COUNT OF THREE TO OPEN THE DOOR! ONE…TWO…THREE." Jake stepped back a bit, before throwing his leg against the door and kicking it down. Alex looked at him, slightly shocked that he'd managed to kick open the door. Then he scrambled to his feet.

"RIDER! What the _hell_ were you doing in Desiree's room on Sunday?" He yelled.

"Classified," Alex replied. A small voice in his head told him that he was going to be killed whether he told the truth or not.

"Classified my ass. You were looking for something, weren't you? What were you looking for?" Jake kept a hold on the part of him that wanted to throttle the kid. Unfortunately, that hold was starting to slip.

"I can't tell you."

"Okay," Jake snarled. He moved so suddenly that Alex, with all his years of training, couldn't even react. Suddenly he found himself pinned against the wall, held in Jake's iron grip that allowed no chance of wriggling.

"I'll ask again; what were you doing?"

Alex made himself widen his eyes, wondering if Jake would fall for the innocent look. Jake just shifted his grip to smash Alex's head against the wall. Okay, innocent look _doesn't work. Plan B._

"I wasn't the one with a private file on my desk," he said trying to draw the conversation away from him.

"Don't change topics," Jake snarled.

_Shit,_ Alex thought, _the guy was good._

"I was…uh," Alex stuttered. That got him a fist to his chin.

"It's your own bloody fault you're in this mess," Jake tutted, "You don't trespass on other people's rooms. Not only is it rude, it's against the law."

"Thought this place didn't obey the law," Alex asked, and received a fist to his face for his effort.

"You know, I've never really liked smart-asses," Jake hissed, "I've only ever made an exception for Des." He hit Alex again, this time in the exact place Agent Harvey had when he'd found Alex in the ISB. The teenage boy gasped in pain, and gritted his teeth.

"I also never really liked anyone who's annoyed Des. And currently, you're at the top of the list mate," Jake tutted again, and hit the boy just below the eye, enough for it to bruise. Alex squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. He failed miserably. How the hell was Jake able to hold him in such a firm grip, with one hand?

"So I'm going to give you one more chance," Jake snarled, "_What were you doing in Dessi's room on Sunday?"_

"JAKE! What the hell are you doing?" A sudden voice yelled from the doorway. To his relief, Alex felt Jake release him from his bruising grip.

"Terry? I thought I told you to practice shooting?" Jake sounded neither guilty nor concerned that he'd just beaten up a fifteen year old.

Terry stalked into the room, threw Alex an apologetic glance, and towed his leader away from the boy. Alex could hear them arguing in angry whispers as they went down the stairs and exited the DB, and he caught Jake whispering, "_Don't tell Des I'm telling you this"_ before the left.

The boy slid to the ground. He hurt like hell, but he didn't think anything was broken. The back of his head wasn't bleeding, and he was sure he didn't have a concussion. Well, at least Jake knew how to deliver a beating without causing serious harm.

Alex sighed. Jake had a point that he supposed he should accept. It was sort of his fault that he'd seen the file. If he hadn't given into…whatever it was…

The teenage spy felt his resolve to be angry at Dessi slip away. He'd sort of been blaming the whole thing on the girl. She'd probably been blaming herself too, judging from the numerous amounts of times she'd tried to apologise to his door.

_Damn you Jake,_ he thought as the beginnings of guilt entered his mind, _damn you to hell_.

* * *

_And that's another chapter done! _

_I'd just like to thank all my reviewers again, as well as those who've added my story to their favourite/alert list. It makes me feel loved…_

_I've sort of changed my mind…Alex isn't going to be spending Xmas in Aus. Sorry if you were expecting that, but he's going to be with Jack and Tom, since Xmas is a time for family…_

_Love Chariots99_


	14. Twist of the Tale

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

_THANKYOU TO ALL MY WONDERFUL REVIEWERS! YOU MAKE MY DAY!_

**Chapter 14**

Mr Blunt waited impatiently at his desk for Mrs Jones to enter. _What was taking that woman so long_, he wondered vaguely. After all, he'd sent the message requesting her presence nearly fifty seconds ago.

Mrs Jones walked in then, slightly panting. When Blunt actually 'requested her presence' in his office, something was wrong.

"Yes?" She asked, closing the door behind her.

"Look at this. It's from source SS368," Blunt said, handing over a file. Jones frowned as she took it. MI6 had a lot of sources, but 'SS' meant only one thing. Scorpia source. SS368 was also their most reliable source too.

Mrs Jones skim read the contents of the file. When she reached the end, she looked across at Blunt.

"We need to bring Alex back now," she said calmly.

Mr Blunt nodded.

"I'd hoped for him to remain in Australia longer and maybe complete the mission with the AIS, but since the, ah, incident, the boy has not so much as been in _contact_ with the rest of the unit," Blunt sighed. He hadn't been happy when Mrs Jones informed him of the fight Alex had reported in through his communication device, telling her that the teenage spy was acting too childishly. Apparently, Blunt sill thought that about the boy.

"Send word to Alex, Ben, and K-unit," Mr Blunt went on, "The first flight the day after has been booked. Bring them home."

* * *

Desiree lay back in her bed that night with a soft groan of relief. She closed her eyes, and almost immediately fell asleep. The day flashed in her dreams, from telling Jake about Alex, to some new agent coming up to the shooting range to practice with her and Dean, to Alex actually _showing up_ at dinner, though not lunch. He looked like he'd been in a fight-he had a small black eye and a slightly bruised chin, and kept massaging the back of his head like it'd been hurt.

Desiree turned over in her sleep, her hand subconsciously slipping under her pillow and grasping the photo of the three happily smiling Swans. Her dreams faded into darkness and she slept peaceful and calm. She didn't know that at that very moment, Alex Rider was outside her door, debating silently with himself about whether or no he should go in and apologise. He didn't know she was already asleep.

_Just go in and say sorry,_ he told himself. Then another part of his mind said _I have nothing to be sorry about. She's the one who looked at my file._ After a few tense moments, he gave up and went back into his room.

Seeing that the photo frame was blinking red again, Alex grabbed the communications device, locked his door and settled onto his bed. He tapped gently on the message, while making a mental note to actually turn the device off in case someone came into his room and found it.

_Alex. We have a situation here and need you back straight away. Our most reliable source has informed us that Scorpia has not forgotten nor forgiven you. They have plans underway to threaten your housekeeper, your friend, and your class if you do not give yourself up._

_We have placed guards outside your house as well as agents following around your friend. However, we're going to need you back to sort this out._

_The first flight on Friday at 03:05 am Perth time has been booked for you, Ben and K-unit to return. Pack your things._

_Jones._

Alex stared at the screen. Scorpia never forget, Scorpia never forgive. It had been, what, a year since they'd last shot him for revenge? What did he do this time? With sinking heart, he remembered destroying Royal Blue, the bomb that Scorpia had planted under Dragon Nine to cause massive death. They'd probably want revenge for that.

_What doesn't kill me doesn't make me stronger,_ Alex thought with a sigh,_ it usually comes back to try again_.

Someone knocked on his door. With a soft moan of frustration, he got off the bed and answered his late night caller. It was Ben. He smiled tightly at Alex, before glancing around him and stepping into his room, motioning for the door to be closed.

"Did you get the message?" Ben asked, keeping his voice low.

"Yea, you?" Alex said. Then he almost groaned at his idiocy. Of course Ben had gotten the message. Otherwise how would he know about it?

"Yea," the MI6 agent didn't seem to realise the stupidity behind the question, and Alex didn't bother pointing it out, "So did the rest of K-unit; I just checked. They're giving us two days to pack; well, actually one day since we'd have to leave this place tomorrow night. Have you gotten any other messages from them in the past few days?"

"Um," Alex thought hard, "No. They stopped a couple of days ago. Before then, I was getting constant messages telling me to find out about…_her_." The MI6 agent understood immediately what he meant by 'her'.

Ben frowned at him in thought. "Me and the rest of K-unit were getting spammed by them, telling us to find stuff out. They suddenly stopped too. I don't like it," Ben bit his lip, "Do you think the AIS found the signal and blocked it?"

"No," Alex said immediately, "Smithers said they couldn't. And even if they did, how did we get this message if they've blocked all the signals? If they did, they would've traced the signal back to us and we've been screwed. But they haven't said a word about it."

The MI6 agent thought for a moment before grimacing.

"Point taken," he said.

Ben turned to leave, then paused and gazed back at Alex in concern.

"Be careful when we get back, okay?" He asked quietly, "Scorpia are pretty ruthless. They don't go down without a fight from what I've gathered."

Alex froze, before forcing a smile onto his face.

"I figured that out for myself," Alex said tightly. Ben nodded, bid him goodnight, and left.

Alex threw himself onto his bed in annoyance. The nerve of MI6! They'd told the rest of K-unit about Scorpia's threats! Seriously, was there _anyone_ he could trust _not_ to blab his secrets to the world? Probably not. He purposely disregarded the part of his mind that whispered _Tom and Jack haven't said anything... _He all but ignored the part that added, …_Not yet._

The teenage spy muffled a groan in his pillow. At that moment, he really hated the world.

The next thing he knew, Thursday morning had arrived. It was 5:35 am. How did he know? Well-

"PHILLIPS! FINLEY! SWAN! UP NOW!" Honestly, did Jake know how to do anything else _except_ yell? Oh, wait. He knew how to hit people too.

Alex got up with a groan. He noticed that for the past few days, Jake had left him out of their training. He'd also left out K-unit too. Well, today Alex was going to go back into training, even though it was their last day. Or maybe, because it was their last day.

Quickly he changed, then went out to use the bathroom. At the same moment, Dessi had stumbled out of her room, and had her hand on the bathroom handle. Seeing him, she froze. Then with a timid smile, she took a step away from the bathroom and motioned for him to use it first.

Alex raised an eyebrow at her, shooting her a questioning look. The girl sighed.

"_To make up for the first day," _she said, not in English, but in heavily accented and stuttered French.

"_Why are you speaking in French?"_ Alex asked. He couldn't resist, even this early in the morning, showing off his skill. After all, he'd been told by countless people that his French was almost perfect. He himself knew that he was fluent in the language, though the AIS did too.

Dessi grimaced. "_Our mission is in France, and Jake reckons I need the practice. I have to speak in French for the next week, starting last night."_

Alex raised another eyebrow at that. Strange, Ian had also forced him to speak in a different language for a week to get him to improve. Apparently, that was a drill used by all intelligence agencies. Or a coincidence.

"_Your accent is horrible, and your pronunciation hurts my ears,_" Alex informed her. The girl broke out into a wide grin, happy that they were on speaking terms, insults and different languages included.

"_I know,"_ she said cheerfully,_ "I try."_

Alex snorted and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Then he realised what he just did. He'd broken he's code of silence against the girl. He'd just _talked_ to her, albeit in a different language. _Damn it_.

The morning run passed uneventfully, unless you counted the expression on Jake's face when he realised that the rather bruised Alex would be going for a run.

Halfway around the grounds, having sprinted for most of it because Jake had announced that they would be doing a 'Cat and Mouse', Alex began to get the strange feeling that he was being watched. Twice, he thought he saw the Scorpia assassin watching them, but as soon as he blinked the man was gone, and Alex passed it off as a trick of the sun. Or paranoia. Apart from Desiree, whom he could _definitely_ see running in just front of him, the boy didn't see anyone else.

After hearing Jake's triumphant shout when he caught up to Terry, who'd been running a fair distance behind him, Alex put the assassin out of his mind before adding an extra burst of speed.

When he got back to the DB without incident, discounting Terry's 50-push-up-punishment for getting caught, and in higher spirits than he'd been in for a long time, Alex decided it was time for a little fun. Glancing behind him to measure the distance between the running Jake and himself, Alex darted towards Wolf's door.

_Wait,_ he told himself, _wait…now!_

Raising a hand, he pounded on Wolf's door just as Jake entered, then darted for the stairs. Wolf pulled open his door with a growl, just as Jake walked past.

"WOOD! _Why_ did you just _knock on my door_?" Wolf shouted.

Jake stopped, stunned for a moment, before replying, "What? I didn't-"

At that moment, they both noticed Alex's retreating back, hurrying up the stairs, and, putting two and two together as leaders do, they simultaneously the both roared "RIDER!"

Alex snorted, dashing for the bathroom before finding it locked. _Damn,_ he thought. It was either Dessi or Dean in there, since Terry was still running, and they both took a _long_ time in the showers.

Alex shook his head and went into his room to change. He was _soaked_ in sweat. Not only did the sprint take a heavier toll on his body than he expected, but the freakin' _sun_ was burning so much this early in the morning that Alex was rather surprised he didn't just dry up.

His stomach rumbled slightly, and the boy decided it was time for breakfast. If he ate fast enough, he could get back in time to take his shower before heading off to whatever torture Jake had planned for the morning.

* * *

Alex stood in the shower, feeling the cold water soothing his extremely hot skin. He didn't need Scorpia or Jake to kill him. The Australian weather was doing a fine job by itself.

Breakfast went pretty quickly for the boy. He'd just ate his toast as fast as he could, then downed the glass of milk in record speed. He heard Dessi mutter a caution in French, something about choking, but the girl's pronunciation was so bad that he hardly understood what she said. She watched his eating with something close to disgust, then announced that if anyone needed her, she'd be in the gym because so early in the morning it was bound to be empty. And so saying, she left alone. Terry hadn't understood her French either, and looked had looked to Jake for an explanation.

Enjoying the refreshing coolness of the water, the teenage spy closed his eyes with a content sigh, while trying to empty his mind. Inevitably, Alex's thoughts turned back to the Scorpia assassin. In all honesty, he'd been so busy the past few days he'd almost forgotten about the man.

Now that he was in the cold, thinking clearly, Alex was pretty sure that he'd actually seen the man earlier that morning. The assassin was obviously spying on them, though why he had been so close to Alex when Jake had been so far behind him, the boy had no idea. After all, the only other person in his sight would have been…_Desiree Swan_.

Alex's eyes flew open. Suddenly, the memories of all the times he'd seen the man rushed into his mind. First, he'd turned up at the ISB while Alex had been there. And who showed up in a matter of minutes to rescue him from some agent intent on bashing answers out of him? Desiree Swan.

Then the man had gone off in the direction of the med centre after Alex had sprained the girl's knee. That meeting had proved to the boy that the assassin wasn't after him, otherwise he would have been killed right there and then. Instead, that made him think the assassin was after Jake. But who else had been with him? Who had the injured one been? Desiree Swan.

And last night at dinner, while Dessi sulked for some reason that Alex knew now to be a French-speaking-week punishment, hadn't he overheard Dean tell Jake about how their afternoon at the range had been intruded upon by "some new agent with really short dark-brown hair". And who had been at the range yesterday when the 'new agent' turned up. Definitely not Jake, who'd been beating the hell out of Alex, nor Terry, who'd shown up a few minutes later to pull the man off him. No the only two people who would have been at the range were Dean Finley and…Desiree Swan.

Swearing violently under his breath, Alex hurriedly wiped himself and got dressed. He had to warn the girl. Even if he was still mad at her, he wasn't angry enough to just let her die. Rushing out of the bathroom, he banged on the door before realising she wasn't inside.

Where is the girl?

His thoughts turned to breakfast. She'd excused herself to go somewhere. Something about it being empty in the morning. Damn, why was her French so _bad_? And why did Jake have to choose now, of all times, to make her practice it?

Jake. He'd understood what the girl said. He'd translated it for Terry.

Alex dashed out of the DB, running full pelt for the canteen. He hoped Jake hadn't yet left. He hoped that Dessi was wrong when she said where ever she was going would be empty. That was what the assassin was waiting for. A chance to catch the girl without any witnesses.

Alex arrived, breathless, at the canteen just as Jake stood from his table. Before the leader could open his mouth to give the group their instructions for the day, Alex rushed to grab the man's arm and dragged him outside.

"Rider! What are you doing?" Jake asked, too shocked to snarl.

"It's Dessi! Where-where did she say she was going?" Alex asked, panting slightly.

Jake frowned. "Down at the gym. It's usually empty until about five minutes after breakfast. What's wrong?" Jake added, startled as Alex let out a moan of despair.

"She's been there for fifteen minutes!" Alex exclaimed, then turned.

Sensing that the boy was about to dash off, Jake reached out to snag his shirt.

"What's wrong with Dessi?" He asked, spinning the boy around as he fought the man's grip, "Damn it Rider! You're not helping!"

"You have a Scorpia assassin on the loose, and he's after her!" Alex all but shouted.

Jake froze. "What? Scorpia…but…" Sudden realisation hit him. _The mission!_ So the girl _had_ been caught on camera! Damn! He _knew_ he should have scouted for them, it was his job, but he'd found that one too late, and now…_crap._ He was all too familiar with Scorpia's 'motto', for want of a better word.

"Come on, Rider," Jake ordered, then took off for the gym, Alex hot on his heels.

"What happened? Why are they after her?" He asked as they sprinted.

Jake glanced at the boy, debating whether or not to reply. Then he figured that if he didn't, Dessi would, and the girl would make it sound like it was her fault.

"Mission. Details classified," Jake began, "We had to infiltrate…okay that's classified too. But let's just say that we had to go into a…room. A very well secured room. I was supposed to look out for security cameras, and I missed one until it was too late. Apparently Scorpia caught her face on film. _Damn this_!"

Alex remained deep in thought. There was more to the story, he knew it and Jake knew that he knew it. But before he could ask any more questions, the gym loomed into view. A scream tore through the air, slightly muffled by the thick walls and the closed doors of the gym, but the two heard Dessi scream.

Jake visibly paled, and he increased his speed until he reached the gym, at which point he promptly burst through the doors. And froze.

The assassin looked up in surprise, from his position on top of Dessi. The girl was lying face down on the ground, her arm bent behind her. The other arm was covered in deep scratches, all of which bled profusely. The beginnings of bruises littered the parts of her body which they could see. One of her eyes had swollen shut.

Clearly the girl had put up a fight.

The assassin got over his surprise and gave Jake a leering grin, taunting the man that was frozen to the ground as he saw his loyal field partner.

The assassin then raised his arm to deliver the final, fatal blow.

* * *

_Cliff hanger! Sorry, couldn't resist. And it seemed like a good time to add one._

_In case you're wondering why I made Alex's first assumption about who Scorpia's target was wrong, in all of Horowitz's books, Alex has always jumped to conclusions way too quickly. And most of the time gotten it wrong. I was just trying to stay in character._

_Love Chariots99_


	15. To the Rescue

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 15**

Desiree was in a bad mood at breakfast. She knew her French needed work. She knew that for the mission to be a success she needed to be able to understand French, maybe not fully like Alex obviously did, but to enough of an extent to eavesdrop on unsuspecting people. That did not, however, make the punishment of having to talk in only French any easier to bear.

What made breakfast all the worse, was watching Alex stuff his mouth as fast as possible. He looked like he was trying to make himself sick or something.

"_Careful, or you'll choke,"_ Dessi said. The boy looked at her like she had sprouted another head or something. Either she'd used the wrong words, or he wasn't that good at French. Watching him stuff his mouth was making her sick. _Boys,_ she thought with disgust.

With a groan, the girl stood up to excuse herself from breakfast. There was still about twenty minutes until it ended. That meant twenty minutes of freedom and peace in the empty gym. She could really use a warm-up, maybe go through a couple of drills, before that morning's scheduled session in the gym.

"_I'll be in the gym,"_ she informed Jake. Before she left, she saw Terry lean in to ask Jake for a translation. Honestly, her French wasn't that bad, was it?

She decided to jog down to the gym, so that she wouldn't waste valuable alone time having to warm up. On her way across, she had a sense that she was being followed. But she dismissed it, attributing the feeling to her extreme tiredness. Or to the paranoia of being a spy for too long.

As expected, Dessi was the first and only one at the gym. She left the door opened behind her; the air inside wasn't exactly fresh, and she had been banned from operating the air-con after she'd managed to blow it up the last time. She still had no idea how that happened.

It had taken her approximately five minutes to slowly jog to the gym. Going into the dead centre to stretch, she decided to start off with her arms. They were the sorest part of her body for some reason. Even more so than her sprained knee, which the doctor assured her she'd now be able to use in sparring with the same strength as before.

Desiree never heard the Scorpia assassin come into the gym. Never heard him quietly shut the door. But she did hear the soft click of a gun being taken off safety.

Instinct took over as she threw herself out of the line of fire. The bullet hit the spot where her heart would have been had she not moved. Training kicked in, and she found herself thanking the Gods that Jake had decided to put her through the Bullet Runs again and again. Dodging and weaving, Dessi approached the man. To her surprise, she found it to be the same one who'd intruded on their shooting range yesterday.

The assassin looked stunned that she was able to dodge the bullets, and before he could react she'd darted out in front of him and snatched the gun away. It fitted snugly in her hand, and the grip was a shape she remembered all too well. It was the Beretta 92SB. The one Alex had taught her how to assemble blindfolded.

Darting away from the assassin, she tried to remember how many bullets he'd already fired. Her mind came to the answer pretty quickly. Twelve. Crap. There was one more bullet left inside the semi-automatic pistol.

Quick footsteps behind told the girl that the assassin had advanced, rushing towards her. She whirled around, and suddenly Alex's voice floated through her head.

"_You have to sort of get a feel for the gun, like it's joined to you, like you're one. You need to trust and, um, believe that you can hit the target. That means no taking time to aim…"_

_Okay Alex,_ Dessi thought grimly as she raised the gun,_ I hope you're right…_

Desiree fired. The assassin had seen it coming, and leaped out of the way. But though the bullet missed his heart, it still hit him square in the arm, passing right through and tearing away some flesh. He groaned his teeth in pain, blood pouring freely from the wound.

_At least he's hurt,_ the girl thought, daring out of range, _now I have a bullet-less gun._ Past experience had taught her that even though the gun may be bullet-less, the actual gun could still be used to cause serious harm. And she hadn't ever fought with a bullet-less gun either. So she compromised and hurled the gun to the other side of the extremely large gym, where neither of the two could get it.

The assassin came towards her again. He'd been taught how to control his pain, and how to use it against his opponent. And so now he did.

Dessi darted away again. She knew that speed was her only advantage. As soon as he caught her, he could use his superior weight to pin her down. And that would _hurt_.

The man spun with Dessi, constantly facing her. He had been trained well, but as far as experience went, he could still be considered a rookie. That showed when he faltered slightly, giving the girl an opening. She darted in and elbowed him under the ribs, making him grunt in pain, before flitting away again.

She continued to irritate him, darting in and striking with a few well-aimed blows, then darting out of reach again.

Then, when the girl nipped in again, she skidded slightly over a puddle of his blood, and lost her balance. Instantly the man reacted, grabbing the girl and throwing her. Hard. By now he'd retreated so that he could put the wall behind his back.

Dessi slammed into the wall, feeling the bricks taking chunks of skin off her arm. A pair of hands wrapped around her neck and squeezed. The air was cut off from her lungs. Dessi struggled, trying to free herself from the bruising grip, but her actions were getting weaker and weaker as she lost more oxygen. Black spots started to appear before her eyes.

_No,_ she thought firmly, _I will NOT lose consciousness!_

She brought her leg up and lashed out, aiming for his unprotected groin. Sure that was a bit of a low move, but desperate times call for desperate means. Or whatever the saying was.

The man roared with pain and let go, though not before smashing his palm against the side of her cheek. Gasping, she tried to roll free only to find herself back in his grip.

Wincing, she tried to pull out of his iron grip, only for him to lash out with his injured arm. The blow caught her right in the eye, and she gritted her teeth in pain. She could already feel it swelling. _Great, loss of vision through one eye. Exactly what I needed._ Then his leg swung around and caught the girl straight in the stomach. She doubled over in pain, emitting a loud scream.

He grabbed the girl by her shoulders and threw her across the room as hard as he could. She hit the floor with a sickening crunch and skidded a fair way. Dessi flung her hands out in an attempt to stop herself. She was pretty sure the crunch had been her ribs, though right now, adrenaline was masking all her pain. Scrambling, she tried to stand, until he came up behind her and forced her down again, using his weight to pin her to the ground face down.

Dessi swallowed her fear. With his superior weight holding her down, she could struggle all she wanted to but she would never be able to budge him. He grabbed her arm and violently swung it behind her back, and she whimpered as she felt it on the verge of dislocation.

Then suddenly the doors to the gym swung open. Desiree snapped her head up, and saw Jake, seemingly frozen to the ground. _Help!_ She screamed with her mind, but her field partner just stared at her in shock.

He didn't see the blur sprint past him, and neither did the assassin who had been too focused upon delivering the final blow that would end the girl's life.

But Dessi saw him.

* * *

Alex raced for the gym, trailing just behind Jake. He saw the unit leader burst through the doors, saw him freeze. Alex ran past him, taking in Dessi and all her injuries, as well as the position of the assassin above her, and the way his arm was angled as he started to deliver the final blow. Alex recognised it well. It was one of Scorpia's favourite techniques out of all the others which they taught. Out of all the ones that were designed to kill.

Alex threw himself at the Scorpia assassin, knocking the man off Dessi with his momentum, and letting it carry the two of them away from the injured girl. The man landed heavily on his back, Alex on top of him. The boy had purposely dug his knees into the man's chest, and he felt several ribs breaking under him.

The assassin roared and threw the boy off him. They both sprang to their feet. Alex gazed coolly at the man. If he remembered correctly, this guy had been at the bottom of the class for the few days Alex had trained at Malagosto. He'd been the only one to ignore Alex, too concentrated in improving his skills. That was probably why he never recognised the boy during all their encounters. He certainly didn't recognise him now, in the heat of battle.

_Never identify with your opponent, otherwise you let down your guard._ Well, he didn't know the guy well enough to be able to identify with him in the first place.

The man threw himself at Alex with a standard combination of moves that Scorpia put together. Alex recognised it instantly, and his body remembered how to counter that sequence of moves. The man was obviously quite surprised that Alex defended himself so fast. His emotion was his undoing.

Alex threw himself at the opening, launching one of the most fatal kicks. He put all his weight behind it, and when his foot came into contact with the man's stomach the man doubled over and dropped in pain. Alex swung around and hit the man right in the base of the neck, cutting off the blood supply. The man fainted almost immediately.

The teenage spy stood, glaring at the unconscious man. Then he turned his back firmly on the assassin and went over to Desiree.

By then Jake had managed to unfreeze himself. He now knelt over the girl, checking her over while she feebly tried to wave him away. They both looked up when Alex approached, and Desiree broke into a rather weak smile.

"Hey," she said, her voice slightly hoarse.

"Hi," Alex replied, kneeling down beside her. Jake glanced at the boy, then stood and walked over to secure the unconscious man, giving the two some time alone.

"Thanks," she rasped.

Alex frowned. "What's wrong with your voice?"

"Strangle."

"Ah." If that was the case, then right now she would only be able to manage single word answers. _So I guess I'd better ask the right questions, _Alex thought.

"Are you okay?" Alex winced at the lame question. Dessi gave him a weird look before replying.

"Just. Been. Attack. What. You. Think?" She shifted, and whimpered slightly. Apparently her adrenaline had decided to leave her, and she could now feel each of her bruises. Her left arm stung from where it had been cut by the wall, and her right shoulder throbbed at the attempted dislocation. Her ribs though, felt fine. Maybe the crunch _hadn't_ been them breaking.

"So…Look Dessi, I'm sorry about, about the other day," Alex said really fast, looking everywhere but the girl, "I shouldn't have been in your room in the first place, so it was really my fault that I found the file."

Cool fingers gripped his chin and forced him to look at the injured girl. Dessi surveyed him through her one good eye, the other being currently swollen.

"No," she rasped, "Me. Sorry. File. Mi6. Message. You. Trace." She broke off with a grimace. Alex had no idea what the girl was talking about, and apparently it showed in his face. Desiree groaned in frustration.

"Trace!" She grunted.

"Trace what?" Alex asked blankly.

Dessi glared at him, annoyed. Why couldn't he understand her? Probably because she was trying to explain things using single words. Well, that wasn't exactly her fault…Maybe someone could translate for her?

"Jake!"

Jake turned and hurried back just as the doors to the gym burst open. Two of the nurses who worked in the med centre hurried in, the doctor a step behind. Between them they carried a stretcher, one that didn't look like it saw much use.

After the doctor came the rest of unit one. Seeing Dessi on the ground they hurried over, but when Jake shook his head and jerked it towards the assassin, they understood and diverted course. Apparently it had fallen to them to secure and carry the assassin to their cell.

"Alright Desiree," the doctor said, kneeling over the girl as Alex and Jake scrambled out of the way, "Where does it hurt?"

"Throat. Head. Cheek. Eye. Right. Shoulder. Arm. Stomach. Side. Back."

"Okay, what happened to your voice?"

"Strangle."

"And the rest of you?"

"Punch. Kick. Wall."

"So you've been through quite a beating," the doctor said, checking her pulse. Then he seemed to decide that the girl was safe to move, for he signalled the nurses to drop the stretcher. The three of them gently rolled Dessi onto it, trying not to hurt the girl or apply force where she'd been injured. Desiree still winced slightly though, and bit her lip to stop herself whimpering.

"Ah, Mr Rider, Mr Wood, would you mind carrying Miss Swan back to the med centre? And please do be careful. We want to go fast, but not fast enough to aggravate any of her injuries or to cause new ones. And Mr Rider, I must say your cheek has certainly healed."

Alex and Jake glanced at each other, then leaned down and grabbed opposite ends of the stretcher. Dessi gave them an apologetic glance from between, though the girl hardly weighed anything. They hurried for the med centre, the doctor and nurses right behind.

* * *

Dessi spent the morning laying listlessly on the bed in the med centre, waiting for the doctor who was currently explaining her situation to Jake. The first thing he had done when they rushed her in was to check that she had no internal bleeding. Then run a series of tests.

One of the nurses held an ice pack to her swollen eye for half an hour, and now she could see through it again. Then the doctor came back and poured her a cup of some putrid green liquid. She did not want to know what it was. It smelled foul and tasted even worse. But after she drank it she could manage a couple of sentences without feeling pain.

The doctor, though, hadn't let her talk all morning, saying that just because she could, doesn't mean she should. Apparently, she should save her voice, and let it heal. She'd been forced to use sign language all morning. It was a new experience telling people how she'd been hit without using her voice.

Now she was in utter boredom. Alex had been sent away, and it was only through word of the director that Jake had been allowed to stay. Still, he had to wait outside, as she wasn't allowed any visitors.

The talking outside stopped, and the doctor and Jake entered.

Dessi raised her hand in greeting.

"You are one lucky lady," the doctor told her with a smile, "No internal bleeding, no concussion, no lasting damage done. Your shoulder will be sore for a while; some of the muscles were torn, or at least badly sprained. You'll still be able to do what you normally do, but no over-exerting." Here, the doctor shot a glare at Jake.

_Am I still fit for the mission_? She signed slowly. It had been a while since she'd last used sign language.

"That's what I'm here to talk to you about," Jake said, "I've just had word from the director. ASIS's recently kicked up a fuss, again, about our existence, so the government forced the Director to hand over our mission to them."

_What? We did all that training for nothing?_ If Dessi could use her voice, at that moment she would have exploded.

"Yea, but you know. ASIS's never liked us. Think on the bright side-at least you're fit."

Jake ducked as Dessi threw her pillow at him, then handed it back to her. The doctor just glared at her sternly.

"Desiree Swan. You've just injured your arm. No throwing things!"

_But you said that I can do what I normally do_, she signed, her expression clearly telling the doctor to pity her.

"You do not normally throw your pillow at Jake, do you," the doctor said.

Dessi stared at him, then lowered her eyes and signed a _no_.

Jake hid a grin. Honestly, he had to learn how the doctor managed to get the stubborn girl to back down without even raising his voice. That skill might just come in handy.

"Okay, Dessi. You are to remain in bed until dinner. After that, I believe your presence has been requested at the airport. Since you haven't yet fainted, and all you need is a bit of rest, I've granted you permission to farewell your guests. But _any_ over-exertion, and I will not hesitate to confine you to this bed for a month. Are we clear?"

_Yes_ Dessi signed quickly.

"Good girl. Now get some sleep. One of the nurses will wake you up for lunch."

_I'm not tired though_.

"Sleep or I will give you a sleeping tablet that will knock you out for twenty four hours straight."

Desiree's eyes widened, and she promptly closed them and leaned back, trying to get comfortable.

The doctor turned to Jake. "I believe that neither of our presence is required. You should get back to the rest of your unit and tell them the good news. Don't worry about her," he added, "She's a fighter. She'll be fine and her injuries weren't too severe to begin with."

Jake nodded. He hated it when Dessi got injured, but he trusted the doctor, and if he said she would be fine, then she would be fine.

"I'll be back tonight Des," he said softly as he left.

Desiree didn't hear him leave. She didn't hear the conversation either. The moment she closed her eyes and got comfortable, she'd fallen asleep.

Apparently, she _was_ tired.


	16. Farewell

_**Disclaimer**__: I __do not own __the Alex Rider series._

**Chapter 16**

"Dessi? Dessi, wake up."

Someone was shaking her gently. Dessi cracked open her eyes.

"What?" She murmured.

"If you want to come with us to the airport, I suggest you go get changed," Jake said as she slowly sat up.

"Why - Oh Alex!"

Suddenly the girl was out of the med centre bed. Apparently she got out way too fast, for she suddenly felt dizzy and the world spun for a few seconds. Jake held out a steadying hand, concern etched onto his face.

"Let's not try that again in the future," Dessi muttered. With Jake's help, she made it out of the med centre alive.

It was nine at night. The soft glow of lights illuminated the AIS headquarters, and helped the two find their way back to the DB. Dessi leaned lightly on Jake at first, but by the time they actually arrived, most of her weight was being supported by him. Apparently, the girl was more injured than she thought, or let on.

"Do you want me to carry you up the stars?" Jake teased.

Desiree stared at him in horror, then rapidly shook her head. In the end though, Jake did have to carry her up. Her body just couldn't take the climb.

"Do you need help changing too?"

The girl scowled at him

_Get lost_, she signed and limped over to her room, shutting the door softly behind her as Jake waited outside. As quickly as she could without injuring herself again, the girl changed out of her blood stained and torn clothes.

She hesitated for a second, biting her lip and staring at her bed. Then, with a slight effort, she lifted her thin mattress enough to stick her hand under and pulled out a small object. This she slipped into her pocket, before going back out the door and almost walking into Jake.

"What-" then she quickly switched to signing.

_What the hell are you doing?_

"Waiting for you," Jake smirked, just as Alex appeared dragging his suitcase behind him. Seeing Desiree though, he stopped suddenly before breaking out into a smile.

"Dessi! You're out of the med centre!" He exclaimed, "Did the doctor say you could come with us to the airport?

_Yes. I thought Jake would've told you that?_

The boy stared at her, confused.

"I thought you read my file, Dessi. I don't understand non-spoken languages," he said.

Desiree rolled her eyes, then glared expectantly at Jake. Her field partner glared back, then heaved a heavy sigh and translated for Alex. He seemed to be playing translator a lot recently.

"You didn't tell me," Alex said indignantly.

"Yea, 'coz I didn't know where you were. I told K-unit though," Jake replied, "And I thought one of _them _would've told you."

Dessi scowled at Jake for a moment, before reaching over and grabbing Alex's wrist. She dragged him down the stairs, giggling slightly as Jake realised he was left to carry Alex's suitcase and promptly let out a loud "_Hey!"_

The girl didn't manage to make it down the stairs either without help. By the time they reached the bottom floor, she was using Alex as both a support for the majority of her weight, as well as for balance.

K-unit, Terry and Dean were milling around downstairs. When they reached the bottom floor, Dessi withdrew her grip, throwing a thankful smile at Alex, before waving at the chattering men. Only Dean saw her.

"Hey Des!" He said, pushing over to the two of them. That was as far as he got before heavy thumps echoed down the stairs; Jake apparently _didn't_ take kindly to being assigned to drag someone else's suitcase down.

_Scram!_ Dessi signed, and she and Dean left as quickly as they could. Alex, not having someone as a translator, was left to bear the brunt of Jake's annoyance, and when the man exploded, the DB emptied pretty quickly.

Except for Jake and Alex, the others trudged over about fifty metres to where the AIS kept their cars. By the end, Dean was almost half carrying Desiree.

"You should've stayed in bed," he chided.

The girl couldn't reply since she needed both hands to sign, and right now one of them was gripping onto Dean's shoulder extremely tightly for support, so she just rolled her eyes and glared.

Jake and Alex caught up while they were loading the car, the former breathing heavily and still glowering, and the latter looking supremely unconcerned that he just got yelled at. He was also carrying his own suitcase, which he threw in on top of all the others.

They all clambered into the seven-seater car, the back two rows slightly more squished since there were nine of them. Terry took one look at the gathered and yelled "shotgun", darting into the front seat next to Jake. The unit leader rolled his eyes and got into the driver's seat.

All in all, the back row was slightly less cramped than the middle, since the two teens were a lot smaller than the men. Dessi took the seat by the window and Dean sat beside her so he could further annoy her about the state of her health. Alex, who'd taken the seat in between Dean and a sleeping Ben, was extremely tempted to tell the man to _shut up_.

When finally he had enough of Dean's whispers, he decided to interrupt.

"Dessi," he said, leaning across Dean, "How did the doctor get to the gym so fast this morning?"

_Jake called them in when you and that assassin were fighting._

Dean acted as the translator, though very grudgingly, and only after the girl signed something or other that was obviously a threat. He talked in a monotonic voice, clearly bored.

"Ah," that made sense.

"Can I ask you something else?" He said, and continued when the girl nodded, "This isn't meant to be offensive, but how is it that you have all this technology, you can hack into MI6 and God knows what else, and yet you didn't realise that there was a Scorpia assassin loose on your grounds?"

Dessi grimaced.

_Funny I asked the Director the exact same question when he came to visit me. Apparently he knew, or at least suspected, that the new agent was with Scorpia. He said that if he'd raised suspicion, then Scorpia would kill me a different, and probably more painful, way. Since the only way to know for certain was to flush him out, he let the man in as a 'probationary agent'. The Director also said something about how he'd matched the man's face to a photo we pulled from MI6, and the stuff which we were able to get off Scorpia, which isn't much, said that he was basically a rookie, and that this was basically a test. One he obviously failed, thanks to you._

"Wait, so you're telling me that you Director _purposely_ let in a Scorpia assassin, knowing full well that the guy was after you and your life would then be in danger, just so he could _prove_ that the guy was an assassin?" Alex questioned, slightly horrified. MI6 were bad, but they were never _that_ bad…were they?

_It's what every agency would've done. Of course, most agencies would also inform the person at risk, but I guess you've noticed that we do things a little differently here._

Alex snorted. A _little_ differently? That would be the understatement of the year.

They lapsed into silence after that, though K-unit (or at least Eagle) didn't stop talking all the way to the airport, despite being punched by Wolf, Snake, Terry, Alex, Dean and Alex again for Dessi, who couldn't reach him.

_Does he ever shut up?_ Dessi signed.

"It doesn't seem like it," Dean said, whacking Eagle over the head.

"Ben? Ben! What? How could he possibly _sleep_ through this noise?" Snake asked.

"He took sleeping pills?" Alex guessed, looking over at the sleeping figure of Ben beside him.

"Guys! Please! I'm _trying_ to concentrate on driving!" Jake yelled from the front seat.

_Jake drives like a grandma, Jake drives like a grandma..._ If Dessi was allowed to talk, she would have chanted that all the way to the airport. As it was, when Dean translated what she was signing for Alex, who was staring at her with a quizzical expression on his face, the boy decided to start the chant anyway.

"Jake drives like a grandma, Jake drives like a grandma…" He sang, then suddenly ducked as Jake retaliated by throwing Terry's sunglasses at Alex. The car swerved briefly when he took his eyes off the road, but Jake didn't lose control. Mainly because he was driving so slow.

"Hey! Give them back!" Terry shouted.

"They're mine now! Finders keepers," Alex taunted, holding up the sunglasses like a trophy.

"Don't make me go back there!" Terry yelled, before unbuckling his seatbelt and attempting to climb over to the back row. He didn't so much make it out of his chair before Jake reached out and grabbed the back of Terry's pants, almost pulling them down as he forced the man back into his seat.

At which point Desiree promptly dissolved into laughter.

It was with some relief when they finally reached Perth's International Airport; Eagle had refused to shut up and now all their ears hurt, and Terry had caused such a racket after being pulled back into his seat that Alex had been forced to give back his sunglasses or else risk losing his eardrums.

At some point along the journey, Ben had woken up, but seeing the chaos around him, immediately fell back asleep again.

It was around half past ten when they finally checked in and got their tickets. A fight had ensued, again, since no-one wanted to sit next to Eagle. By a unanimous vote, he was to sit by himself, again.

"We could just hang out here for a while, since our flight doesn't leave until in like, four hours," Snake said, looking across at where the two teenagers were trying to communicate, "You two want some privacy to say goodbye?"

Alex caught Snake's hidden meaning and gave him the rude finger before he was dragged off by Dessi to a deserted corner in the waiting lounge. She sat, making sure that Jake couldn't see her face, and gestured for Alex to sit in the chair opposite her.

"Okay, I'm going to keep this short," she whispered.

Alex raised an eyebrow, "I thought you couldn't talk?"

"No. I can talk, I just wasn't _allowed_ to. Which is why I'm whispering, because if Jake catches me opening my mouth then I am _so_ dead."

"Right…"

"Look Alex. I still feel bad about the whole, file incident. It was my fault, I shouldn't have accepted it in the first place. And I-I'm really sorry," she whispered, staring at the floor.

"Yea, well. It's not really your fault that your agency has access to all that stuff. And I suppose you were just doing your job, you know checking me up to make sure I wasn't a mass murderer or something."

Dessi smiled slightly, and raised her eyes to meet his.

"There's something else. This was what I was trying to tell you in the morning, but I don't think you understood me. In the last two weeks, ever since you came, we've been getting really weird communication signals," she grinned, and Alex suddenly realised where she was going, "We managed to trace it a couple of days ago. The signal was pretty good, scrambled at almost every point on the way, but in the end we got it. Links directly from you guys to MI6. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" She asked teasingly.

"Yea, sorry about that but…"

"Orders are orders. Don't worry, I get it," Dessi smiled, "But I hope you don't mind us reading your messages. Security, you know? Those K-unit guys didn't find out much, and they didn't think to report on our training drills, but you…You certainly found out a lot. We had to block most of your messages about our info swipes and the Bullet Runs, among others. Sorry," she added, "But it's not something that should become well known. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell them when you get back, but I know I can't stop you."

Alex stared at her. "So, wait. If…Did you guys block their messages to me-to the rest of K-unit?"

"Yea. They were spamming our system. Hope you didn't mind," she added worried, "I didn't think you wanted to read message after message telling you to get info about me."

"No, actually you did us all a favour," Alex said truthfully.

Dessi smiled, then asked, "Is that why you went into my room?"

Alex looked at her, trying to gauge if she was mad about that. "Erm, sort of. They gave me the idea, but I suppose I was curious as well."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, before Alex decided to interrupt it.

"Dessi, can you keep a secret?"

The girl looked up. "Depends, are you planning to murder anyone?"

Alex snorted. "No, not that kind of secret. You…you asked me a couple of times where I learnt how to shoot so well. D-do you still want to know?"

Desiree stared at him. She knew that information wasn't in his file, which meant that he did not want it to become well known. If he wanted to tell her, he must actually _trust_ her!

"Yes. But only if you're comfortable telling me."

Alex nodded, then took a deep breath. "You know about how my dad worked as a double agent in Scorpia? Well, he was, um, pretty high up, so he was pretty well known. Um, I met a guy, an assassin, who worked with my dad. He basically idolised him, because he saved his life. The assassin told me how to find Scorpia…" Alex trailed off as he saw the girl's eyes light up in sudden understanding.

"Scorpia trained you," Dessi whispered as the pieces fell into place.

"Yea. And, well, if you're trained by Scorpia, you're trained well," Alex said, glancing up at the girl, "Even if the training was rather…strict."

Dessi stared at him, stumped. The kid was trained by a criminal organization, and lived to tell the tale! No wonder he was so good.

"There's something else. Um, you know my godfather? He didn't just have connections with Scorpia like it says in my file. He, well, he was with Scorpia behind ASIS's back. He…" Alex paused, then drew a shuddering breath, "He…killed my parents…to get into Scorpia."

"Oh, Alex," Dessi murmured, "I'm so sorry."

"Yea. Me too."

"You didn't have to tell me that, you know?"

Alex raised his head to stare the girl full in the face. "I did. You and me, we're the only ones in the world who are the same. So, I guess you have a right to know."

"I don't, it's your secret. But I promise I won't tell anyone. I'll keep it secret until I die, which probably won't be too long away, considering the field I work in," she joked rather feebly. Alex suddenly remembered something Mrs Jones had told him, way back when he first entered the spying world:

"_You're never too young to die."_

There was another silence, in which it seemed like Desiree was having an inner struggle with herself to say something. Finally she sighed, catching Alex's attention.

"Alex, those messages we intercepted, from the MI6, the tone got progressively more annoyed when you didn't tell them anything about me. I-I'm sort of grateful that you didn't even though you were mad at me, but I don't want you to get into trouble."

Desiree shifted so she could reach into her pocket and pull out the small object she had hidden under her mattress. It was a sixteen gigabyte USB, a really delicate looking one. She clutched it in her hand tightly.

"This USB is a really useful invention of the AIS. It only allows itself to be inserted into a computer twice before it self-destructs. The first time is when you load info onto it, the second time is when you get the info off.

"I-Well, no agency in the world, aside from ours, knows a thing about me. There are rumours that our sources have confirmed, but no actual documents, or anything to prove that I exist. Well, you know how I was, um, abandoned on the freeway. I didn't have a birth certificate, so I was never registered into the government system. I never had a passport, well, not one that was actually me. I've never been entered into the national census, I don't have so much a library card, and when I went to school, it was under the name 'Natalie Lake'. So, basically, I'm a ghost. Which is exactly how the government wants me. After all, you can't catch ghosts." Desiree gave Alex a sad smile.

"I've known about my status all my life. I know that, in the state of the world, I don't actually exist. I've sort of come to terms with it. But when we intercepted those messages from MI6, I realised that every agency was looking for me. I-I didn't want you to get into trouble for not telling them about me, so…" she trailed off, then leaned across and grabbed Alex's hand with her free one. She placed the USB carefully in his hand, and curled his fingers around it.

"That's my file, the one that MI6 probably wants," she explained, removing her hand from around Alex's, "It's got everything about me; my birth, the orphanage, all my foster homes, Ann and Red, and also details about every mission I've ever been on. Give it to MI6; they sound pretty desperate. In fact, trade it. If they want it as bad as they say, I'm sure they wouldn't mind releasing their hold over your life for it."

"But…Dessi," Alex croaked, "Th-this is _your_ life…you can't just _give _it to MI6!"

"I can and I will. I don't want you in trouble, and I know you don't want to remain in our world. Alex," she sighed, "There's still a chance for you to leave this world. To be normal, to have friends and not have to worry about getting them killed; that's why you're going back so soon, we saw the message. You've only known this world for a year, leave it while you can. As for me," she gave him a bitter smile, "It's already too late. Half the world is after me; all I can hope is that my death isn't too painful."

Alex continued to stare at the girl, and she became slightly frustrated.

"Damn it Alex!" She hissed, "Don't make this so _hard_! I'm trying to _help you!_ Plus, it's high time the world knows that I actually exist."

"Dessi, this information could put your life in danger..."

"My life already is in danger. It always was and it always will be," the girl stated, as if it was a commonly known fact, "But there's still a chance for you _not_ to live your life constantly looking behind your shoulder for danger."

The girl had made her mind up, and Alex saw that no matter what, she would not be taking the USB back. He'd learnt when to back down from a fight after living with Jack for so long; now seemed like a time to concede defeat.

"Okay, fine." An image of the girl's room suddenly popped into his head. The way it was so _devoid_ of anything, and his conclusion that she'd already killed herself on the inside. He sighed and put the USB carefully into his pocket. Honestly, the thing was so fragile it looked as though it would break the moment you breathed on it.

"Thank you."

There was another silence before Desiree spoke again.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favour," she said, slightly timid.

"Depends…"

"Well, I know I can't stop you, but I was wondering if you could keep the details of our drills and our grounds and the info swipes, well, secret. It's just, really important that it doesn't become well known, because well we don't want more trouble than-"

Alex raised his hand. "I won't tell a soul, and I'll make sure Ben and K-unit keep it quiet too."

Dessi broke out into a relieved smile. "Thank you, Alex. That means a lot."

Wolf gave the two a shout, telling them that they should be moving now. The two stood at the same time, facing each other.

"Well, good luck for your mission," Alex said.

Dessi snorted. "The mission got pulled."

"Why?" The boy frowned, "So, wait you did all that training for nothing?"

"Tell me about it," Dessi rolled her eyes, "But according to Jake, now "I'm fit". You see, ASIS has never liked the fact that we exist. Because AIS doesn't need to obey the law, we get more intelligence in a week than they get in a month. So the government favours us, and we get better grants and that. But every now and then, ASIS kicks up a fuss, and the government forces us to hand over one of our missions to calm them down. So, long story short, our mission got pulled."

"Right…" Alex trailed off, "So you guys have to deal with the bad guys _and_ the good?"

"Yea, if you want to put it that way."

Dessi looked up at Alex, her blue eyes unwavering from his brown ones. She stuck out her hand with a soft smile.

"It's been a pleasure, the last two weeks," she said, "I'm happy I got to know you. I hope everything works out back home for you."

"Thanks. So, does this mean you forgive me?" Alex asked.

"Only if you forgive me," Dessi teased.

"Then we're all good."

The girl laughed and nodded.

"Yes. Friends?"

"Definitely," Alex put his hand into hers, and they shook.

"OI! YOU TWO!" Wolf roared, coming over to where the teens stood, "We do NOT have all night. Get going, Cub!"

Alex pulled out of the handshake, and gave Desiree one last smile before walking off to get his suitcase. Dessi limped over to where the rest of her unit stood, and waved to K-unit.

Alex walked through the gates last, turning briefly to wave a final time to Dessi. Then he was gone. Desiree stared at the place where Alex, her friend, disappeared. He'd made such an impact in her life in the past two weeks. For a brief moment, she wondered if they would ever meet again. Then she sighed. If they did, it would be on different sides and there probably wouldn't be time for friendship.

"Goodbye Alex," she whispered, and allowed Jake to gently steer her away towards the outside. _And thank you for everything. I'll miss you._

* * *

Alex trailed K-unit as they tried to find their gate in silence. The flimsy USB weighed heavily in his mind. He didn't want to be the one who put Dessi's already non-existent life in even more danger. Looking around, he spotted a technician, trying to tighten the nail on a door. By his feet was what appeared to be a tool box.

An idea came into his head. Dumping his suitcase with Ben, and hurriedly making up an excuse, he ran towards the technician.

"Excuse me?" He said.

The man looked down and smiled slightly. He had a streak of oil running down his face, though he either didn't notice or didn't care.

"How can I help you, young man?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"I was wondering if you could lend me a pair of pliers, or a hammer," Alex asked.

"Sure, but what do you need it for?"

"Well," Alex said, pulling out the USB, "I need to destroy this thing."

"Ah. Do you want help or would it be more satisfying if you did it yourself?" Apparently the technician was under the impression that something on the USB annoyed Alex. The boy didn't bother to set him straight.

"Um, I'd like to do it myself."

"Okay," the technician bent over, rummaging around until he found his hammer, "Here you go, kid. Remember to bring it back!"

"I will. Besides, I'll just destroy it over there."

Alex took the hammer and walked so he was a couple of metres away from the man. He put the USB on the ground, then swung the hammer up and smashed it against the flimsy USB.

It broke immediately upon impact. Alex got a couple of _looks_ from passing passengers, but since he wasn't actually killing anyone, no-one paid more attention to him. Alex kept pounding the USB until it was as close to being the size of dust as he could get it. He then collected up all the pieces, returned the hammer with a smile of thanks, and went off to find Ben.

Along the way, he scattered different pieces into different bins, until he was left with the largest unbroken piece which he placed back into his pocket. When he got home, he decided, the first thing he would do would be to break that piece into further pieces, split them with Tom, and bury it in both their backyards. He was probably being over-cautious, but if there was one thing he learnt, it was that in the world of spies, people would go to great lengths trying to obtain information. Even if they found every other piece of the USB in the bins, they would still have to locate the one Alex held before they could reassemble the thing.

Alex grinned as he entered the gate for his flight.

He was not the most willing spy in the world. He was not the best student to come out of Malagosto. He was not in the best condition, having almost been shot in the heart after Scorpia decided upon revenge. He was not the most careful person, after all the times he'd been caught out on missions. But one thing that Alex was…

He was loyal to his friends.

When he got home, he would make sure that Jack and Tom were well protected. When he got home, he would try to protect the rest of his class mates too. And when he got home, he would destroy the remains of the USB, to protect the one person in the world who knew what it was like to be him; who knew of the struggles and the pain, the grief, the anger.

Alex Rider, teenage spy, was coming back.

* * *

_THE END!  
_

_Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers and loyal readers!_

_Love Chariots99._


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